UN Climate Chief Warns Europe’s Record Heat Wave Is ‘Brutal’ Reminder of Global Warming Costs

BRUSSELS — The record-smashing heat wave plaguing Western Europe is a “brutal” reminder of the cost of global warming, the United Nations’ climate chief has warned. France has reported several heat-related deaths and the United Kingdom saw its hottest May day on record as the western part of the continent swelters under a heat dome, a persistent high-pressure system trapping hot air beneath it. The scientific consensus is that heat waves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent due to human-caused climate change, noted Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N.’s climate body. “This latest heatwave in Europe is a brutal reminder of the spiraling impacts of the climate crisis, both human and economic,” Stiell said in a statement Wednesday. “The main culprit is the world’s addiction to burning coal, oil and gas, and destroying forests.” He added: “This climate-driven heatwave is double-jeopardy, at a time when the latest war in the Middle East is showing the soaring costs of depending on fossil-fuel imports,” a reference to the rising prices of oil and gas due to the prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, national authorities across Western Europe on Wednesday urged residents to take steps to stay cool. In France, national weather service Météo-France issued orange heat wave alerts — the second-highest warning level — for several departments. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said Tuesday that the unusually high temperatures had resulted in seven “direct or indirect” fatalities, “including drownings … along with deaths linked to extreme heat during sporting competitions.” In Germany, officials in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia urged residents to avoid sprinkling their gardens or filling swimming pools in order to conserve water. The region’s Environment Minister Oliver Krischer said that although there is currently “no shortage of water … in times of climate change with long periods of heat and drought, even the largest supplies will eventually run out.” Residents of the Iberian Peninsula have struggled to sleep with nighttime temperatures remaining above 20 degrees Celsius. Portuguese authorities have expressed concerns the heat could raise the risk of wildfires in the southern Algarve region, a key tourism hub. Similarly sweltering conditions were registered in England, where temperatures in London climbed to 35.1C on Tuesday, far above the previous May record. All-time highs were also reported in Ireland. Peter Thorne, director of the ICARUS Climate Research Center at Ireland’s Maynooth University, described it as “mind-bogglingly crazy” that the records were being exceeded by a large margin. “To break the all-time May record by more than 2 degrees, a week out from the end of the month when we’d expect records to be set, is hard to comprehend,” he said. Stiell, meanwhile, urged governments to step up efforts to ditch planet-warming fossil fuels. “Protecting human lives, businesses and economies from extreme heat and the many other soaring costs of climate change is core business for every nation, and it starts with kicking the fossil fuel addiction much faster,” he said. Forecasters predict the record-setting heat wave will abate this weekend. In Brussels, temperatures are set to rise to 31C on Friday before cooling substantially.