Climate change made deadly Europe floods up to nine times more likely: Study

The extreme rainfall that triggered devastating floods across Germany and Belgium in July was made “up to nine times more likely” due to climate change, a research study has noted, giving credence to findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report that warned of extreme weather events.

The study has also pointed out that human-made global warming has caused downpours in the region up to 20% heavier.

Germany and Belgium join a list of other countries that have been facing floods and extreme weather events. In the past one month, there were floods in China, extreme heatwaves in northwest Americaand forest fires in Russia, Greece, Turkey and the US.

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The report, compiled by 39 scientists, used meteorological measurements, high-resolution computer models and peer-reviewed research methods. It compared the frequency of extreme rainfall that occurred in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands in today’s heated climate with the frequency expected in a world where there had been no human-caused climate change.

It found the climate crisis has made extreme rainfall between 1.2 and nine times more likely to happen and that such downpours in the region are now 3% to 19% more intense.

“The huge human and economic costs of these floods are a stark reminder that countries around the world need to prepare for more extreme weather events and that we urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid such risks from getting even further out of hand,” Prof Maarten van Aalst, who is one of the who conducted the research, told the Guardian.

Over 222 people were killed in flooding in Germany and Belgium.

On August 9, the IPCC came out with a damning assessment on global warming, saying that extreme heatwaves, droughts, and flooding, are going to be more pronounced in this decade.

The 3,000-plus-page report said global warming is already accelerating sea-level rise and worsening extremes such as heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms. Tropical cyclones are getting stronger and wetter, while Arctic sea ice is dwindling in the summer and permafrost is thawing.

All of these trends will get worse, the report said.

(With inputs from agencies)