Europe’s Summer of Fire: The New Normal?

Europe is burning. Wildfires are still alight in the hills outside Bordeaux and the countryside west of Madrid. More than 300,000 people across France and Spain have been forced from their homes, and both countries remain on high alert as they enter the fourth heatwave of the summer. As we publish this episode, new fires are breaking out across Greece and Turkey.

With the continent warming at more than twice the global average, a new frontline of the climate crisis has emerged. Meanwhile, nearly three in four UK newspaper articles about June's record heatwave made no mention of climate change, and into that gap come competing narratives: arson conspiracies, weather manipulation, "it was hotter in 1976". Are we being gaslit?

Tom is joined by Friederike Otto, co-founder of World Weather Attribution, to unpack what so much coverage is missing. Are these extreme events being caused by climate change? How do we know? And how can we tell a better story?

He then speaks with Emma Howard Boyd, former chair of the UK Environment Agency, now chair of the UK's new National Heat Risk Commission. She has spent her career translating slow-moving climate risk for institutions built to move fast - in government, in finance, and now at a commission created for precisely this moment.

Emma’s doesn’t claim to have the answers, but she does have ideas. She calls for a shift from emergency response to strategic planning, and for local, mayor-led heat plans like Heat Ready London to ensure schools, hospitals and railways are built for the temperatures now arriving.

Every decision we take now either builds in resilience or locks in vulnerability. Which are we choosing? How are we going to bring more people with us? And can institutions built for fast disasters learn to see a slow one?

Learn More:

🔎 Read the ECIU analysis finding three in four UK newspaper articles on the record June heatwave didn’t mention climate change

🔬 Check out World Weather Attribution, for more on latest research and attribution science.

🛰️ Get the latest data on wildfires in Europe from the EC Joint Research Centre

📊 See the rapid analysis from LSHTM, Imperial College London and the Met Office estimating more than 2,700 heat-related deaths in England and Wales in May and June

📋 Find out about the National Heat Risk Commission, chaired by Emma Howard Boyd, reporting later this year

🌍 Explore the London Climate Resilience Review and the Heat Ready London plan

⚖️ Learn more about ClientEarth’s work using the law to protect life on Earth

🎤 Leave us your voice notes and questions for upcoming episodes on SpeakPipe

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Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Show Runner: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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