Climate Update: Europe Will Experience Yet Another Major Heatwave in Coming Days

 

The old button from the Environmental Club days which I just happened to find on Earth Day! It is a little beat up (particularly the ends of the ribbon), but no worse for the wear, I think. And it is one of the few items that I have left from those days, so it carries a lot of great memories for me! Nothing Changes Until You Do!

Meant to publish this about nine or ten days ago, roughly on June 21st. Somehow, it escaped my attention. 

Still, even though this is outdated - Europe is  experiencing yet another, even more severe heatwave as I write this - it still seems pertinent to my own goal of documenting these massive heatwaves which, unfortunately, appear to have become the new norm. That is why I want to document these things. It feels that even while these kinds of headlines have indeed become far too commonplace, there are still people who too easily convince themselves that climate change is nothing but a mere hoax. I understand that there is less of a respect for facts than ever before, but come on!

So yes, I wanted to publish this, even though it is now clearly outdated. This feels like a subject that is too important to be lost in the whirlwind of other news and distractions.

As I write this in northern New Jersey, most of the United States has been or will soon be experiencing a serious heat wave. Temperatures here in Jersey are supposed get really hot by this weekend, and are supposed to be scorching, sizzling by midweek.

Nor are we alone. 

Parts of Europe - Portugal, Spain, and parts of France - already experienced a serious heat wave in late May.

Now, much more of Europe is expected to experience another massive heat wave in the coming days.

It's scary. Much of Europe - particularly northern Europe - was known for moderate summers. It never really got too hot there.

All of that has changed in recent decades. Severe heat waves started to become so routine, that many people feel that they are the new normal. 

Frankly, I am not a fan of the term "new normal." It sounds too much like we have already resigned ourselves to certain new realities which are anything but normal. That is true in other areas, like politics. But it feels particularly alarming when it comes to climate change, because that is global. It affects everyone in the world, potentially. No one is immune.

Yet, people still want to debate whether or not climate change is real. 

My suspicion is that they want to feel comfortable, that the fears are overblown. That the dire predictions amount to little more than fearmongering.

Weather tracker: Europe and China in midst of record-breaking heat Matt Andrews (MetDesk) Temperatures over 40C recorded in Portugal and Spain, while China endures heatwave conditions in high 40s  Fri 13 Jun 2025 06.25 EDT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/13/weather-tracker-europe-china-record-breaking-heatwaves