A recent study reveals that climate change has significantly increased the likelihood of severe flooding in Central Europe, linking it directly to the consequences of burning fossil fuels. The catastrophic floods in mid-September resulted in 24 fatalities and caused extensive damage to infrastructure, totaling billions of dollars.
According to the report from World Weather Attribution, an international team of scientists, the rainfall brought by Storm Boris was the heaviest ever recorded in the region. The study concludes that climate change has doubled the chances of such intense rainfall occurring. In today’s climate, characterized by a warming of 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels, storms like Boris are projected to occur once every 100 to 300 years.
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If global temperatures rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, as anticipated by the 2050s, the frequency of these storms will increase by 50%, accompanied by at least a 5% increase in rainfall, the report indicates.
While this flash study has not undergone peer review, it utilizes accepted scientific methodologies. Joyce Kimutai, the study’s lead author and a climate researcher at Imperial College London, emphasized the alarming implications of fossil fuel-induced warming: “These floods underscore the devastating results of fossil fuel-driven climate change. Until we transition from oil, gas, and coal to renewable energy sources, storms like Boris will result in even heavier rainfall, leading to economically crippling floods.”
