According to the expert, the consequences of climate change have been dealt with too carelessly in the past.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf Forest fires in the Mediterranean and Canada, floods in Greece and Slovenia. This summer is characterized by numerous extreme weather events.
The most recent example is the dramatic floods in Libya. As of Wednesday, rescue workers had found more than 2,000 bodies in the particularly affected eastern Libyan city of Darna. More than half of the victims were buried in mass graves on site, said the health minister of the government in eastern Libya, Othman Abdel Jalil. The authorities estimate that there are more than 5,000 deaths.
Storm “Daniel” caused deadly flooding in many cities in the east of the country. Darna was the worst affected. The floods damaged or destroyed many roads towards the city. This affects the rescue and assistance operations for tens of thousands of residents.
According to experts, the severe Mediterranean storms can probably be attributed to climate change. “These extreme rainfalls in a very, very short time indicate this,” said Kiel meteorologist and climate researcher Mojib Latif on Bayerischer Rundfunk on Wednesday morning.
Regarding the background to the Libya catastrophe, the expert said: “This is a so-called Mediterranean low, and these lows can be particularly intense – especially in autumn – because the Mediterranean is still very, very heated. On the other hand, cold air from the north can meet this warm air, and that creates an explosive mixture.”
Destroyed houses in the devastated port city of Darna. The extent of the destruction caused by the floods is slowly becoming apparent.
(Photo: dpa)
Latif added: “This low pressure area has been bothering us for many days – it first raged in southeastern Europe, in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and then it really intensified again in the Mediterranean and became a kind of Medicane .” A Medicane is the name given to a Mediterranean storm that has similarities to a tropical cyclone.
Regions have to adapt
The climate researcher emphasized the enormous impact of the recent storms in the Mediterranean region: “Last week we measured precipitation that has never been seen in Europe before. In some cases that was many times what we had with us during the Ahr Valley flood. Maybe you can estimate what kind of rain masses are involved and what destructive power lies behind these rain masses.
For Latif, it now also has to be about how a region can adapt. But he also sees limits: “I think we were far, far too careless when it came to climate change. I think that’s changing now that we’re realizing that climate change doesn’t just mean higher temperatures, but above all means more extreme weather, more potential for damage and, above all, a gigantic challenge for people in terms of health.
You can adapt to a certain extent, but there are also limits: “With such masses of water, what else do you want to do?”
In Greece, people cannot return to their homes
A week after the severe flooding in central Greece, the consequences of storm “Daniel” are also clearly being felt there. Many people are still unable to return to their homes. Seven villages are still cut off from the environment, and many houses are destroyed and uninhabitable, the newspaper “Kathimerini” reported on Wednesday.
Around a week after the floods, Greece is still struggling with the consequences. Some villages are still inaccessible and animal carcasses pose health risks.
(Photo: IMAGO/ANE Edition)
During the day, a refugee camp for 1,300 affected people will be set up near the city of Larisa. The approximately 900 migrants who have lived there so far have been taken to other reception camps in the country.
In many rural areas, animal carcasses also pose health risks. As of Tuesday, around 15,000 carcasses of sheep, goats and cows had already been collected and burned, Greek media reported.
Also read: Severe floods in Greece set back economy
Parts of the country’s most important highway between the metropolises of Athens and Thessaloniki were still flooded on Wednesday and remained closed along the city of Larissa. The train connection was also still out of service due to major damage to the rail network; the repair costs are estimated at 160 million euros.
More: Southern Europe is worried about tourism because of climate change