Fires, floods, heat wave: "We are witnessing things never seen for 150 years"

Heat records were broken in Tunisia and Italy on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, in Greece or Algeria, the flames continue to devastate entire villages.

Meteorological phenomena left to last and amplify according to Frédéric Nathan, forecaster at Météo France and guest of Europe Midi, Thursday.

INTERVIEW

Colossal fires in Algeria, Greece or Turkey, heat records in Italy, intense rains in France at the beginning of summer… The weather continues to deteriorate against the backdrop of ever more alarming scientific reports.

The latest, that of the IPCC, the UN climate experts, warns about the acceleration of global warming and the direct consequences of the latter in the short term.

Guest of Europe 1 Thursday, Frédéric Nathan, forecaster at Météo France, believes that the whole world is concerned by the extreme weather phenomena observed in recent months.

These should increase.

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Heat, "the most striking phenomenon"

"Records are shattered in many countries of the world. These are things never seen since we made systematic meteorological records, so for about 150 years", judges the specialist. And for him, these exceptional temperatures recorded all over the world are really the mark of the current times. "Europe was not the only one affected, we also think of Japan and then especially of Canada which shattered the records by reaching almost 50 degrees. This is the most striking phenomenon", he insists. .

But other meteorological phenomena have also been observed in recent months.

"The murderous floods in Germany are part of it. But in this specific case, it will take more perspective to know if this is really linked to global warming", advances the specialist with caution. 

France until then "spared"

Regarding these heat records precisely, this summer was particularly marked by unexpected heat waves.

"There is practically only France which had a little cooler temperatures for the season. Elsewhere, it is rather the heat which one underwent, in particular on all the south-east of Europe, where many temperature records were broken. On Wednesday, the all-time record was broken in Kairouan, Tunisia, where it was 50.3 degrees and for Europe in Syracuse, Italy, where it was 48.8 degrees, "detailed the forecaster. 

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For this tourist guide on Etna precisely, this heat in Italy is untenable.

"You can't work or even take the car. Normally, at this time, we happen to have a day at 40 degrees, but it never lasts. We have been experiencing these temperatures for almost ten days now. is not normal ", she despairs.

Towards more and more droughts 

While France has just experienced a rainy start to the season, the Drôme and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence were placed on Wednesday in orange heat wave vigilance by Météo France because of the high temperatures forecast for the next few days in the south-east of the region. country.

From now on, twelve departments are placed in orange vigilance.

This heatwave episode, even if it is not extreme, will continue until the weekend, Sunday included.

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"The whole country could eventually be affected depending on weather fluctuations", projects Frédéric Nathan. "There is a strong probability that the extreme events will be more marked in the years to come, in particular droughts. But also, as we saw in Germany, floods."