At least 24 people have died and billions of pounds worth of damage have been caused by Storm Boris, which has devastated nations such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Austria, and Italy.
According to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) organization, a recent four-day period was the wettest on record in central Europe; the likelihood of such an intensity is doubled due to climate change.
Positively, some localities were probably more prepared for the storm due to its accurate forecast, which possibly prevented additional deaths.
Scientists at WWA use a model to determine the extent to which climate change contributed to an extreme weather occurrence.
Fortunately, the type of deluge that Boris unleashed is still uncommon; in today’s climate, which has warmed by roughly 1.3C due to greenhouse gas emissions, it is predicted to happen roughly once every 100–300 years.
However, the WWA cautioned that similar incidents will become 50% more common and an additional 5% more intense if warming exceeds 2C.
By the end of the century, global warming is predicted to reach about 3C if more aggressive climate action is not taken.
