By: Angelina Hard

Extreme heat waves spread up from North Africa to Europe, starting on June 17, 2022. These heat waves are threatening the lives of baby birds in Spain

As a result of climate change and the heat-trapping greenhouse gases, these fierce heat waves are starting earlier and are becoming more frequent and more severe. “Every heatwave occurring in Europe today is made more likely and more intense by human-induced climate change,” said a study published by scientists at World Weather Attribution on the Human contribution to the record-breaking June 2019 heatwave in France.

The Met, the United Kingdom’s national weather service, stated that the temperatures were surprising for mid-June. “This is the type of thing that climate scientists were warning about, and unfortunately, it does look like this is going to become more common,” said Alex Burkill, a senior meteorologist. In Spain, the whole country is at high risk of wildfires. Firefighters are hard at work putting out fires across the country.

Scientists said Spain’s earliest heat wave was at the same time as hatching season for a protected bird species. Biologist Elena Moreno Portillo told the Guardian newspaper that these birds tend to build enclosed nests in the cavities of buildings, “so it becomes an oven and the chicks, who can’t fly yet, rush out because they can’t stand the temperature inside, they’re being cooked.”

These birds are not the only ones harmed by this environmental catastrophe. In 2003 a heat wave killed 15,000 people in France. As a precaution, the nursing homes in France have developed an emergency plan for such a situation. Hannah Cloke, a climate scientist at the University of Reading, said Britain was “really not prepared” for extreme heat, with offices, and houses. “People aren’t taking it very seriously. They think about ice creams and having fun, but they aren’t seeing the risk for vulnerable people.”

These heat waves and the shortage of rain have also resulted in the reduction of water in major rivers such as Italy’s Po, the country’s largest river. This leaves authorities in northern Italy concerned about possible water shortages.

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