2024: Europe’s major climate events

CGTN Europe

Climate scientists say 2024 was the hottest year since records began.   The past twelve months have also seen record breaking floods, storms and wildfires.   CGTN’s Evangelo Sipsas looks back at Europe’s major climate events.  #Europe #Climate #Nature

Transcript

00:00The ocean's always been at the heart of life for the fishermen in Aegina, a small island around 50 kilometers south of Athens.

00:09For generations, the water is how residents have provided for their families.

00:13But things aren't the same for Nektarios, a second-generation fisherman.

00:18The waters that once teemed with life are quieter now.

00:22And with temperatures rising, fish stocks that used to be plentiful are now starting to run dry.

00:30My dad was a fisherman, I grew up with it.

00:33But now despair has set in.

00:35Once we caught unimaginable fish here, mackerel, chub mackerel, everything.

00:40Now nothing, every year it gets worse.

00:43This is just one example of how climate crisis is affecting industries and communities here.

00:51Natural disasters have intensified this year, signaling a global climate crisis.

00:57Flooding now causes greater damage over wider areas.

01:01And the summer served as the stark example of how Europe must face these challenges.

01:07The season began with Storm Boris.

01:09At least 24 people were killed as flash waters devastated Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Hungary.

01:17Towns were submerged, crops ruined and thousands of people were displaced.

01:22Yet flood barriers, early warnings and emergency teams helped save lives and reduced long-term damage.

01:28Meanwhile, the Spanish region of Valencia faced a harsher fate.

01:32The city endured one of its deadliest series of flash flooding, which killed over 200 people.

01:41Floods in Central Europe and Valencia differ significantly.

01:45Central Europe faced gradual river flooding, allowing time for warnings and evacuations.

01:51In Valencia, flash floods from intense rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems, despite advanced flood diversion measures.

01:59Wildfires and droughts traditionally affect Southern Europe, but this year places like Poland, the Baltic nations and Slovakia also suffered.

02:07Dry spells turned forests into fire hazards, sparking blazes rarely seen in such areas.

02:13Poland faced its worst drought in decades, straining water supplies and ruining crops,

02:19while the Baltics and Slovakia struggled with wildfires that pushed their emergency systems to the limit.

02:27Water scarcity is no longer just a Mediterranean issue, it's affecting Northern Europe too.

02:33Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and prolonged dry spells are depleting groundwater

02:39and increasing wildfire risks in forests across Poland, the Baltics and Slovakia.

02:45As 2025 begins, the challenges of 2024 can still be felt.

02:51Record heat, flooding and wildfires have reshaped lives.

02:55For communities like Egina's fishermen, adapting to the new reality isn't easy.

03:00Nektarios continues to fish, despite facing quieter waters and emptier nets.

03:06But he keeps going, his resilience a reminder that hope and loss now go hand in hand.

03:13Evangelosipsis for CGTN, Athens.

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