No, this wasn't a "completely normal summer", despite far-right climate denial

The summer of 2022 in Europe was anything but ordinary, despite claims from far-right politicians that it was just a typical year. Germany suffered around 14,000 heat-related fatalities, with the majority occurring in a single week in June. The Netherlands estimated that the soaring temperatures would cost the country €180 billion ($209 billion) in lost GDP, while farmers lost about 9 million tons of grain crops in June.

As climate change becomes a daily reality, far-right figures have attempted to downplay the effects, but the evidence remains irrefutable.

Independent climate monitoring agencies, including NOAA in the US, Copernicus Climate Change Service in Europe, and the Japan Meteorological Agency, all declared last month as either the hottest or second-hottest on record. The extreme heat impacted a wide range of industries, causing energy plants to halt production, roads to buckle under the strain, and buildings to struggle with overheating.

The effects were global, with North America, Africa, and Asia experiencing their hottest July on record, and the average sea surface temperature reaching its highest level since records began in 1979.

In Spain, the far-right Vox party dismissed the wildfires that burned over 254,000 hectares of land this season as unrelated to climate change. However, experts agree that rising global temperatures played a significant role in the intense wildfire season, which also affected France and Canada. Attribution science, which compares the likelihood and intensity of events in today's climate to a simulated world without human-caused warming, shows that hotter global temperatures made Spain's wildfires 20 times more likely to occur and twice as probable in France.

The extreme heat has left a lasting mark on Europe, as bodies of water dry up, and critical infrastructure faces challenges. The Rhine, Danube, and Po rivers have reached historically low levels, posing difficulties for shipping and increasing drinking water costs. In the US, drought conditions have devastated crops and livestock, with 59% of sorghum and over half of cattle production now occurring in areas facing water scarcity.

These conditions threaten food supplies, drive up prices, and put rural livelihoods at risk. Despite the far-right's attempts to dismiss climate change, the scientific evidence is clear: this summer was historically extreme.