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Leila Abboud, Barney Jopson and Ian Johnston, Financial Times
There is widespread ongoing media coverage of the wildfires burning across Europe. The Financial Times reports that France and Spain are “braced for even higher temperatures that could worsen wildfires”. It notes that temperatures are forecast to reach 40C in parts of Europe this week. It adds: “In Spain, prime minister Pedro Sánchez linked the blazes directly to climate change as he visited an area affected by wildfires in the south-east…Fire conditions have been worsened this year by three successive heatwaves that dried out vegetation, making it easier for blazes to start and spread. Scientists say these conditions have been worsened by climate change.” Yale E360 reports that “scientists say that a sharp swing from wet to dry weather, a signature of climate change, helped fuel the blazes”.
The Financial Times describes the pyrocumulonimbus “fire thunderstorms” that developed in France. It adds: “French authorities said there have been at least two of these storms during the current wildfires, calling them ‘unprecedented’ in the country.” Euractiv says the fires are “raging out of control on 122,000 hectares of forest land”. The Guardian adds: “EU officials have said wildfires could still be burning until early November in what threatens to be a record-breaking year for the area of land burned.” Al Jazeera reports that more than 300,000 French and Spanish people have been evacuated from their homes. BBC News reports that the Prince of Wales called the fires a “stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate”. Forbes speaks to climate scientist Prof Stefan Rahmstorf. Many outlets carry wildfire images on their frontpage, including the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the i newspaper, the Financial Times, the Guardian and the Independent.
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E&E News says: “Conditions attached to free carbon allowances for industry under the Emissions Trading System are emerging as the biggest point of friction among member countries, according to three EU diplomats.” Inside Climate News reports that European fish are “diving deeper into darker waters” to stay cool. Fortune reports on the challenge of keeping European workers safe during heatwaves. The Independent says analysts at Wood Mackenzie have warned that “Europe faces a gas shortage this winter due to lower global production and reserves being run down due to the Iran war”. The Financial Times says: “Europe’s wind turbine makers are examining whether combining to create industry champions would help them confront Chinese competition in the race to supply the global wind power industry.”
Damien Gayle, The Guardian
The UK’s fourth heatwave will see temperatures reach 35C by Wednesday in some areas, the Guardian reports. The outlet continues: “July has been 3C above average across the UK, according to provisional Met Office data, and with more than a month of summer left, the UK has already faced more days above 30C than ever before. Southern England has had just 1% of its average July rainfall, while England as a whole has had 5% and the UK 20%, according to the Met Office…UK fire chiefs were also priming themselves for the possibility that the latest heatwave could increase the chance of further wildfires in the UK.” The Financial Times says pubs and restaurants are “rushing to install extra air conditioning units” while the Guardian outlines measures that schools can take to keep cool. The Press Association says “a Met Office meteorologist said UK heatwave thresholds will need to be adjusted to take into account the warming climate”.
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The Guardian reports that in the Scottish highlands, the Cairngorms have been facing "cataclysmic" wildfires for 12 days. The Guardian says: “Leading climate scientists who created Greater Manchester’s carbon neutral by 2038 commitment are urging Andy Burnham to unequivocally reject new drilling in the North Sea.” The Press Association: “Almost 100 humanitarian groups call on Burnham to commit to climate action.” The Daily Express says plug-in solar panels will become legal in a “matter of weeks”. The Times: “Stellantis UK says the government’s electric vehicle mandate is causing an ‘intolerable commercial impact’ exacerbated by Chinese imports.”
The Guardian
Typhoon Noul, which made landfall early Sunday in southern China, has forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate and caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights, reports the Guardian. The newspaper says local authorities have declared the highest alert for flash floods in several provinces, brought by the strongest storm to make landfall this year. Floods are expected in parts of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang from Sunday evening through Monday evening, reports Reuters. Financial news outlet Caixin reports that a “sudden flash flood” in north-western China’s Gansu province killed at least 10 people and injured 23 others on Sunday. As a result of rainfall from Typhoon Noul, 40 rivers in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang, Jilin and Heilongjiang exceeded warning water levels, reports state news agency Xinhua. South-western China’s Sichuan province has been experiencing a heatwave since mid-July, with temperatures reaching 40C, reports Sichuan Daily, adding that climate change has caused more frequent extreme weather events.
Li Ting, chief representative and managing director of RMI China, writes in the state-run newspaper China Daily that expanding “demand-side flexibility” in the electricity sector, developing “grid-interactive efficient buildings” and implementing market mechanisms can boost urban energy resilience in an era of “extreme climate change”. Zhang Qinghong, a professor at Peking University, writes in the Communist Party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily that global warming has been proven to “significantly” increase the likelihood of extremely large hail. Zhang says that a warming atmosphere can provide clouds with more moisture and stronger energy, allowing hailstones to remain in clouds for longer periods, accumulate more layers of ice and ultimately grow larger.
MORE ON CHINA
Brazil will strengthen cooperation with China in energy and minerals, Brazilian president Lula da Silva told Chinese president Xi Jinping, reports Xinhua. UK foreign minister Ed Miliband told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the UK is willing to expand cooperation with China on climate change, says Xinhua. The government has called for promoting the “green and low-carbon transformation” of the transport sector, reports Workers’ Daily. China has published new draft rules for comment on allowance caps and allocation plans for its national carbon market, says Ideacarbon. New rules for cost accounting models in the solar sector will support “orderly competition through a unified benchmark”, reports Xinhua. Bloomberg: “China’s crude imports in July set to rise from decade low.”
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