{"id":12681,"date":"2026-06-24T22:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=12681"},"modified":"2026-06-24T22:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:53:00","slug":"politico-here-are-the-three-reasons-why-the-heat-wave-is-baking-european-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=12681","title":{"rendered":"Politico: Here Are the Three Reasons Why the Heat Wave Is “Baking” European Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

The heat wave <\/b>affecting western Europe <\/b>serves as a reminder of what global warming has in store for the old continent, at a time when climate change<\/b> is increasingly fading from public discourse.<\/p>\n

According to meteorologists, the temperatures <\/strong>in the coming days will break records<\/strong> for June in several countries. The thermometer<\/strong> in France <\/strong>will reach 43 degrees Celsius<\/strong>, in Spain <\/strong>it will reach 45 degrees Celsius<\/strong>, in Belgium 37 degrees Celsius<\/strong>, while in parts of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, temperatures may reach degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s chief meteorologist warned that the country could experience the \u201chottest week ever recorded.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the nights will also be extremely hot<\/strong>, as in several regions of Western Europe the temperature <\/strong>will not drop below<\/strong> 25 degrees Celsius<\/strong>. The lack of a break intensifies heat stress<\/strong>, as heat <\/strong>builds up in the body, leading to illness and death among vulnerable population groups and the elderly. Over the past four years, 200,000 people<\/strong> have died across Europe from heat-related causes.<\/p>\n

These are the three reasons<\/b>, according to Politico<\/strong>, why you\u2019re sweating at home and at work:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Fossil fuels<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In fact,\u00a0there have always <\/strong>been heat waves <\/strong>in the summers of the northern hemisphere<\/strong>. But global temperatures have risen by 1.4\u00b0<\/strong> Celsius<\/strong> since humans began burning fossil<\/strong> fuels <\/strong>to power factories, cars, and buildings, releasing greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n

    Scientists agree that every heat wave today is more<\/strong> intense <\/strong>due to climate change.<\/strong> Climate change may not have caused the \u201cheat dome\u201d that has blanketed Western Europe, \u201cit raises the base temperature<\/strong> at which weather systems<\/strong> operate<\/strong>,\u201d emphasized Mireia Ginesta of the University of Oxford, but. \u201cIn a cooler climate, this heatwave would be less intense,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

    Europe is the continent that is warming faster than any other<\/strong>, due to its proximity to the Arctic and changes in regional weather patterns. As global temperatures rise, heat waves <\/strong>are getting worse<\/strong>: Scientists estimate that if temperatures rise by 3 degrees<\/strong> relative to pre-industrial levels<\/strong>, heat-related deaths in Europe will double or triple compared to a 1.5-degree increase.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Poor infrastructure <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The outdoor <\/strong>temperature is just one part of the problem. Europeans spend about 90% of their time indoors<\/strong> \u2014 in homes, stores, trains, schools, and workplaces.<\/p>\n

      In much of Europe, especially in northern regions, buildings are designed to keep heat inside rather than let it escape. Even today, many new homes are built <\/strong>to withstand <\/strong>the winter <\/strong>rather than the increasingly hot summers<\/strong>. In the United Kingdom, 92% of homes are likely to be overheated by 2050, according to the Committee on Climate Change.<\/p>\n

      The use of AC <\/strong>has become more widespread, but only one in five homes has AC<\/strong>. Even if they are equipped with AC<\/strong>, they may not be able to use it due to the cost of electricity.\u00a0 Schools, offices, and public transportation often lack adequate cooling<\/strong>. In France, the heat led to the closure of more than 800 schools this week. In Belgium, 20% of trains have no air conditioning at all, resulting in service cancellations during peak hours.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Out-of-touch politicians<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Governments can take many measures to reduce <\/strong>of carbon<\/strong> emissions<\/strong>, to protect citizens, infrastructure, and economies from extreme weather events. However, as heat waves intensify<\/strong>, climate change<\/strong> is slipping down the political <\/em>priority list <\/em>of the EU<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

        Although the EU has set ambitious goals for reducing emissions, governments are now placing greater emphasis on economic recovery<\/strong> and have scaled back policies<\/strong> considered obstacles<\/strong> to growth<\/strong>. In fact, emissions in the EU rose slightly last year.<\/p>\n

        In the United Kingdom, bipartisan consensus on climate change has weakened, while pressure is mounting <\/strong>for more fossil fuel extraction<\/strong> in the North Sea. At the same time, plans to adapt to the impacts of climate change are significantly lagging behind.<\/p>\n

        In both the EU and the United Kingdom, plans to address<\/strong> the inevitable consequences <\/strong>of climate change<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 such as heat waves \u2014 lag significantly behind efforts to drastically reduce emissions.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        The European Environment Agency criticizes the EU for failing to protect its citizens from extreme temperatures, noting that there is a significant risk of heat stress for the general population in the current decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        The heat wave hitting Western Europe serves as a reminder of what global warming has in store for the Old Continent, at a time when …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}