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

As the summer of extreme heat in Europe comes to an end, politicians are reflecting on the devastating consequences. Germany suffered around 14,000 heat-related deaths, primarily concentrated in a single week of June. Dutch experts estimate the EU will lose €180 billion ($209 billion) in GDP due to summer heat. Farmers experienced significant losses, with approximately 9 million tons of grain crops destroyed in June.

Climate change, once a politically divisive issue, is now an undeniable reality. Despite this, far-right politicians continue to deny its impact. Richard Tice, leader of the UK's Reform Party, claims climate change is a natural cycle and encourages the public to embrace the heat. In the United States, Republican candidate Harriet Hageman downplayed Europe's heatwave as typical summer weather. Even Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of Germany’s AfD party, dismissed climate change as mere hype.

However, scientific evidence remains clear: human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, have caused Earth's surface and ocean temperatures to rise, leading to increasingly extreme weather events. NASA confirms these findings, stating that human-induced warming is the primary driver of global climate change.

The extreme heat had far-reaching effects, with energy plants forced to halt production, concrete motorways buckling, and buildings struggling to maintain comfortable temperatures. The impact was felt globally, with July 2023 setting new records for North America, Africa, and Asia. The United States recorded its hottest July ever, surpassing the previous record set in 1936 during the Dust Bowl. Sea surface temperatures also hit a record high, reaching 21.1 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit).

In Spain, far-right Vox party leaders claimed that devastating wildfires were unrelated to climate change. However, experts agree that rising global temperatures played a significant role in this intense wildfire season, which also ravaged France and Canada. Attribution science, which compares the likelihood and intensity of an event in a warming climate versus a non-warming world, shows that hotter temperatures made Spain's wildfires 20 times more likely to occur this summer.

The extreme heat has also impacted water bodies across Europe, with the Rhine, Danube, and Po rivers reaching historically low levels, disrupting transportation and raising drinking water costs. In the United States, drought conditions in June marked the driest 10-month period since 1976-77, affecting sorghum, cattle, and wheat production, potentially leading to higher food prices and strained rural livelihoods.