i find the way europeans call summer a “heatwave” very cute
yeah nah it’s not normal. we usually barely get two weeks over 20°c here in northern germany. now it’s been over 2 months where it hasn’t gone below 20°c even at night and we’ve been scratching at 30°c for 2 weeks. and it’s dry as fuck, it hasn’t rained in weeks. farmers are seeing the worst harvest in a century because of it, they’re expecting a loss of at least 50% compared to last year.
I find the way people are mocking Europeans for not being used to extreme heat (yes it is extreme for them considering their normal climate) and making light of actual deaths from heatstroke/exhaustion, pretty fucking disgusting actually, OP.
it’s not just a heatwave. In February, we had -20°C – five months later, same place, it’s close to 40°C. That’s 60°C difference – 140°Fahrenheit. That’s not cute.
just some selected effects of this europe’s heatwave:
denmark: more than 1,000 wildfires in july alone, which is a typical yearly total
france: white storks suffering from malnourishment, and, unable to fly, they get injured when falling from nests
germany: 10,000lbs of fish suffocated in hamburg because rivers are unable to release heat efficiently
greece: the attica wildfires were the deadliest in living memory, with 90+ confirmed to be dead
poland:outbreaks of toxic cyanobacteria, which only formed due to the warmer weather, forced beaches to close
portugal and spain: saw almost record-breaking temperatures of 46C+/115F+ which contributed to several deadly wildfires
sweden: the government issued 1.2 billion krona (approx. $191million) in aid for farmers, as the droughts made crops and livestock at serious risk
netherlands: asphalt roads melted all over the country, which caused long-term damage as car tyres peel it away from the road
united kingdom: manchester and several other areas burned for three weeks, with effects estimated to last for 15 years
our infrastructure isn’t designed for this. stop belittling countries you know nothing about
Europeans don’t call summer a “heatwave”. Summer is summer and is normal. We call a heatwave a fucking “heatwave”.
Also please consider most Europeans don’t have AC in their houses because it’s not normal for temperatures to go so high.
Most places in Denmark there was a ban on doing BBQ for a couple of weeks because it was simply too dry. The odds of a single spark accidentally starting a fire were too high.
My European friend and I joke about not being able to handle each others’ ‘normal temperature’ all the time but seriously, a heatwave (like a drauth or cold snap) is dependent on the normal conditions of the area. If the local populace is adapted to certain weather conditions, their farming and environmental management practices are adapted to those conditions, and their town constructions and general amenities are adapted to those conditions, an extreme deviation is dangerous. It doesn’t actually matter whether such a deviation is normal in an entirely different area or not – if we had protracted snowfall in my desert home, for example, some people would die and a lot of farms would be destroyed.
I think OP was commenting on how there’s a heatwave announcement in Europe literally every year the last few years. which, honestly, says more about global warming than Europeans
It’s not just about people and having AC etc., it’s the whole ecosystem. People who live in the Southwestern US etc. may scoff at what Europeans call heatwave but their surrounding plant and animal life is also accustomed to these conditions. Here everything is adapted to rain at reliable intervals and moderate and variate temperatures even at the height of summer.
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