Stronger heatwaves year after year point to clear warming trend: ESA official

 

Stronger heatwaves occurring consistently year after year can no longer be regarded as isolated weather events, Rune Floberghagen, head of the Department of Climate Action, Sustainability and Science of the European Space Agency (ESA), said Tuesday.

Floberghagen told Xinhua in an interview in the Irish capital of Dublin that climate modelers and climate specialists broadly agree that the world is experiencing persistently high average temperatures.

A record-breaking heatwave has swept across Europe, causing deaths, power outages and pressure on health services, while forcing some landmarks to close or shorten opening hours.

"A heatwave lasting for a number of weeks can happen, but when stronger heatwaves occur consistently year after year, they can no longer be regarded as a coincidence of certain weather phenomena," he said.

Floberghagen said global warming is also reflected in other forms of extreme weather, including heavier rainfall, stronger winds, typhoons and hurricanes, which are becoming more frequent and more intense.

He said long-term climate records and statistical information obtained from space provide clear evidence of these changes.

"The information that we get from space, the climate data records and the statistical information about what is happening do not lie," he said.

He called for satellite-based climate information to be delivered more effectively to decision-makers at national, regional and city levels, so that it can support practical responses to rising temperatures and increasingly severe weather.

"Space offers information, but it can also be part of the solution," he said.