Sunny climate stormy climate | Weekly digest #46
EU's GHG emissions reduced by 8% in 2023, devastating floods in Spain result in 200+ deaths, and India sees its hottest October ever.
Hello folks!
Welcome to your weekly dose of climate news where I bring one sunny story that gives hope and two stormy ones that are a cause for alarm. Hope you like them!
🌞 Sunny news 🌞
1. EU GHG emissions down by 8% in 2023 (v/s 2022); 37% lower than 1990 levels
What are we talking about?
EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 8.3% in 2023, compared to 2022, according to report by the European Commission.
The net GHG emissions are now 37% below 1990 levels. Over the same period, EU Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 68%.
Why does this matter?
Many say this report “reinforced confidence” in the EU’s ability to meet its target of cutting emissions 55% by 2030.
However, the European Environment Agency (EEA) found there was still a gap to close. Current policies from member states are expected to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030 from their 1990 levels. Planned measures that have not yet been rolled out would bring this up to 49% – still leaving a gap of six percentage points.
Sources for further reading
🌩️ Stormy news 🌩️
2. Deadly floods in Spain leave 200+ dead; climate change has made the rainfall at least 2x more likely and 12% more intense.
What happened?
Valencia in Spain saw devastating floods last week.
Impact: At least 200 people have been reported dead so far, making this Europe’s worst flood related disaster since 1967 when 500 people died in Portgual
A large number of those killed were on the roads, in many cases returning from work, when the flash floods struck. Many people got trapped in cars that got swept away in the flood waters.
Why did this happen?
Abnormal amount of rainfall - The region got almost a years worth of rainfall in 8 hours resulting in flash floods. Spain’s national weather service said that in the hard-hit locality of Chiva, it rained more in eight hours than it had in the preceding 20 months
Late warnings - People were only warned as the event was already happening. Warnings were not sent until many people were already trapped in flooded houses or in underground car parks, trying to move their cars to higher ground.
Why does this matter?
Spain is a relatively wealthy country with a mature early warning system and despite that, it experienced these devastating impacts. It shows how unprepared we are to deal with such extreme weather events that are likely to become more and more common in a warming world.
Record-breaking events such as these complicate preparedness – how do you communicate the extreme danger of something someone has never experienced before?
Sources for further reading
3. India had its hottest October in 124 years!
What is happening?
October 2024 was the warmest October in India in the last 124 yrs (since records began in 1901)
Minimum temperatures for October also reached unprecedented levels, the highest since 1901.
A similar trend is expected to continue in November
Why does this matter?
This is yet another in a series of heat records that have been broken over the last few years.
One thing to note is this is despite an end of El Nino, after which overall temperatures were expected to come down.
Sources for further reading
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #45
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #44
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #43
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