DTorrents of mud, cars piled on top of each other, houses destroyed, lives destroyed… The terrible floods which devastated the Valencia region, killing more than 200 people, gave way to a spectacle of desolation. Fear was followed by consternation. How can we explain such a brutal and sudden phenomenon? How can a rich country like Spain be so damaged?
Yet it is surprising to be surprised. Certainly, these floods are the worst in more than three decades. But this type of event is expected: for three decades also, reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been warning of climate disruption which is aggravating extreme weather phenomena. If warming increases heat waves and droughts, it at the same time intensifies the torrential rains to which Mediterranean regions are accustomed. The explanations come from physics: a warmer atmosphere can contain more humidity. Overheated oceans also provide more energy for “cold drop” phenomena, storms and hurricanes.
The exposure and vulnerabilities of populations are also exacerbated by urban planning choices. Since the 1960s, cities have been building massively in flood-prone areas, as close as possible to the sea or rivers, pouring concrete in all directions, waterproofing the soil, destroying wetlands that could hold back floods… So the rains, boosted by global warming , surge and carry away everything in their path.
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Recent years are full of examples of such cataclysms. In September and October alone, Ardèche was under water after the most intense Cévennes episode over two days ever recorded, the north of France was flooded by storm Kirk, while Boris left 22 dead in central Europe. In the southeast of the United States, hurricanes Helene and Milton caused more than 250 deaths. Previously, Pas-de-Calais spent the winter with its feet in water in 2023, Germany and Belgium buried nearly 230 inhabitants in Dantean floods in 2021.
Rejection of political ecology
Western countries, which until recently felt protected, are proving to be hit hard by the climate crisis. But a few months after a disaster, we forget about it… until the next one. Astonishment gives way to amnesia, which makes it possible to resume the course of one’s life and continue to keep the economy functioning.
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