MADRID, Aug 24 — Climate change has made extreme rainfall events of the kind that sent lethal torrents of water hurtling through parts of Germany and Belgium last month at least 20 per cent more likely to happen in the region, scientists said today.
“Extreme weather is deadly,” said Otto, recalling that she urgently contacted family members who live in the affected areas to make sure they were safe when the floods hit. “For me it was very close to home.” The July 12-15 rainfall over Europe triggered flooding that swept away houses and power lines, and left more than 200 people dead, mostly in Germany. Dozens died in Belgium and thousands were also forced to flee their homes in the Netherlands.
So they conducted their analysis over a wider area spanning parts of France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. They used local weather records and computer simulations to compare the July flooding event with what might have been expected in a world unaffected by climate change.