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A heatwave is real. But turning every summer tragedy into a climate morality play requires more imagination than science.

Europe has been in the grip of a heatwave with temperatures reaching between 35 and 40 degrees celsius.

The ABC reported on Friday that…

“Europe’s record-breaking heatwave has claimed hundreds of lives.”

I did find that odd.

I mean, here in Australia a 35-degree day is called summer. And while hot, it’s hardly cause for alarm, let alone death.

When you read about the deaths in Europe… you do wonder whether many of them are the result of climate change… or something else.

For instance, the ABC article says…

“A three-year-old boy was found dead in a car in the suburbs of Paris… Two other children died in similar circumstances in France.”

Terrible.

But are those tragic deaths the result of climate change? Or are they the result of parents leaving kids locked in cars during summer? Those are not the same thing.

And then we read this…

“At least 48 people have died (in France) from drowning. More than 20 people across Germany have also lost their lives in swimming-related accidents.”

Again, tragic. I’m not making light of anyone’s death.

But does climate change make you forget how to swim?

Blaming climate change for drownings is like like blaming gravity every time somebody falls off a ladder.

Europe Is Heating Faster Than the Rest of the World?

Fortune Magazine reported during the week…

“Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet.”

Which sounds frightening, until you realise this is one of those headlines that’s been travelling the world for years, collecting frequent flier points.

Back in 2015 we were told…

“Finland is warming faster than the rest of the world.”

Curiously, that same year, we were also told…

“Australia is heating up faster than the rest of the world.”

In 2019 the BBC told us…

“Canada warming twice as fast as the rest of the world.”

And in 2020 we got this from The Guardian…

“South Pole warming three times faster than the rest of the world.”

But it was in 2021 that things got really hectic.

We were told that…

“Africa is warming more, and faster than the rest of the world.”

We were also told…

“Mexico is warming faster than the rest of the planet.”

But it wasn’t just Africa and Mexico.

That same year CBS News advised…

“New England is warming up faster than the rest of the world.”

But wait. There’s more.

It was still 2021 and we were being told…

“Israel warming up almost twice as fast as the rest of the world.”

So, if you believed the headlines, the entire planet was warming faster than the entire planet.

In 2022 Newsweek told us…

“Russia’s climate is heating up faster than the rest of the world.”

At the same time, we were told…

“China heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world.”

And, just for good measure, we were also told…

“The arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.”

Now, at this point, I’m just trying to work out where this “rest of the world” is… so we can move there.

Because literally every part of the world seems to be heating up faster than the rest of the world.

Greta’s ‘Prophetic’ Post Eight-Year Anniversary

While we’re talking about climate predictions, last Sunday marked the eight year anniversary of this gem from the Goblin of Doom…

She wrote that now deleted tweet in 2018.

I’m not saying Europe isn’t hot right now. I’m just saying it’s not the only thing that needs cooling down.

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Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report.

Image via screenshot of YouTube.