France

France Heatwave: 40 Drown, Record Temps Hit 43°C

Is this proof of how lethal climate change is or just a weather event exposing poor preparation?

Published 4 days ago

France Heatwave: 40 Drown, Record Temps Hit 43°C

Story

Above: A thermometer shows beach temperatures above 40°C in Propriano, South Corsica, France, on June 22. Image credit: Grichka Beysson-Leandri/Getty Images

The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Europe is getting cooked alive, and this heatwave is proof that climate change has stopped being a future problem. With records shattered before July, 40 people dead from drownings in France alone and infrastructure crumbling under never-before-felt heat, Europe's new reality is feeling like the continent is on fire. Burning fossil fuels raised the baseline, and now every heatwave will hit people harder and harder.

CNN Guardian

Climate-skeptic narrative

A heatwave hits Western Europe and suddenly every drowning is climate change's fault — even as Eastern Europe shivers through an unusually cold stretch nobody's covering. A single heat dome driven by African high pressure isn't a climate trend, it's weather. Outdated French infrastructure and people swimming unsupervised in dangerous conditions aren't climate crises — they're preparation failures dressed up as an apocalypse.

Irina Slav on energy on Substack Clintel