Does climate change cause more severe natural disasters?

An estimated 17% of the U.S. population is using water from private wells, and after each flood, they become severely contaminated with human and animal feces, dirt, and a variety of organic matter and contaminants. other.

Experts say that a warmer climate leads to more rainstorms, which are also stronger and cause more rain.

“We know the environment is changing, and we’re trying to raise awareness,” said Kelsey Pieper, an environmental engineering professor from Northeastern University (USA).

In a study she joined after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, sampling more than 8,800 wells in 44 counties along the Texas coast showed average E.coli levels nearly three times higher than normal.

Wildfires raging in the mountains of southern Spain Photo: REUTERS

All kinds of natural disasters are besieging the world. Recently, AP posted a picture of the famous ancient town of Phoenix in Hunan province – China submerged in floods. This is one of the places affected by torrential rain lasting weeks with flash floods and landslides, which has killed at least 25 people and affected millions.

In Hunan province alone, 2,700 houses collapsed or were seriously damaged, 96,160 hectares of crops were destroyed, direct damage was estimated at more than 4 billion yuan (600 million USD), according to a report dated 8 6.

Meanwhile, a wildfire that broke out on June 8 on the slopes of the Pujerra mountain in Sierra Bermeja, above the Costa del Sol in the southern province of Malaga, forced 2,000 people to evacuate the town centre. Benahavis.

Follow Reuters, hot summer weather and adverse winds are causing fires. More than 250 firefighters and 100 soldiers were deployed to extinguish the fire.

In the US, a severe heat wave is expected to cover the southwestern part of the country from June 8 and push the temperature above 38 degrees Celsius at least through the end of the week, prompting the US National Weather Service (NWS) to advise people to stay indoors and avoid overexertion.

Many cities in India have recorded average temperatures that have broken centuries of records this summer. The United Nations-funded Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) estimates that 323 million Indians are at high risk due to extreme heat and lack of cooling facilities.

With temperatures hovering above 40 degrees Celsius in May, workers at the industrial center of Ahmedabad told Reuters they were in a “smelting furnace”, constantly falling ill.