Date published: 2005/08/11
The BBC says:
A new report from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warns that temperatures in Europe's major cities are rising.
The report analysed summer temperatures in 16 European cities over the last 30 years and found that in most of them, average summer temperatures were at least one degree Celsius higher over the last five years than they were 30 years ago.
WWF says the increase is caused primarily by greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere by coal and gas-fired power stations and by cars.
Heat waves, drought and torrential rains are all things Europe can expect to see more of, the WWF says.
Rising temperatures will mean more extreme weather conditions and cities may be especially hard hit.
The WWF study shows that Europe's big cities are getting hotter faster than expected.
London showed the biggest increase. Its average maximum temperatures now are two degrees higher than in the 1970s.
Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Lisbon and Athens are suffering in the heat too.
Average summer temperatures have risen by one-and-a-half to two degrees in all of them, and such increases don't just mean more nights out in the open-air cafes.
They mean heat exhaustion for those struggling to work and serious health risks for the very young and the very old.
You have to laugh at this kind of report. It could have been produced by a robot, and the idea that any of it is "new" is pathetic. And it's too bad the BBC yet again just prints what reads like a press release from a so-called environmental pressure group, including all the expected hot button phrases. And if only Britain did have decently hot summers.
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