Several parts of the world have been hit hard by extreme weather this year. In Pakistan, it was first a heat wave that melted glaciers and then heavy monsoon rains that led to major floods. Over a thousand people died and millions lost their homes.
– We are like a postcard from the brink of the climate cliff that the world is rushing towards, said Pakistan’s climate minister Sherry Rehman to SVT’s climate correspondent Erika Bjerström in October.
Thousands dead in Europe from the heat
Europe is also affected by extreme weather. Eurostat, which reports statistics for the European Union, writes that climate change creates extreme weather such as heat waves, floods and storms that lead to economic losses. The countries in the EU with the highest costs linked to the climate are Greece, France and Ireland.
This year, 15,000 people have also died as a result of high temperatures in Europe, WHO wrote in November.
“Was a Tsunami”
Since August, Switzerland, Italy and Albania, among others, have been affected by weather disasters. In Italy, at least six people died from heavy flooding that occurred in September, Reuters reports.
– It was not an explosion of water, it was a tsunami, said the mayor of the town of Barbara, Riccardo Pasqualini, to Italian public service radio Rai at the time.
See what it looked like before and after the extreme weather in Switzerland, Italy and Albania in the player above.