Europe under extreme heat PHOTO

Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary have recorded record-breaking temperatures.

The Slovak Hydrometeorological Office reported that a record 42 degrees Celsius was measured yesterday in Dolné Plachtince.

In Poland, authorities were forced to temporarily shut down the coal-fired power plants of Kozienice and Połaniec due to extremely low water levels in the Vistula River, which limited the availability of water needed to cool the facilities.

As a result, around 1.3 gigawatts of capacity were removed from Poland’s power system.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on employers to protect workers during the heatwave by providing air conditioning and sufficient supplies of cold water.

In Germany, climate activists protested outside the chancellery, demanding greater government action to protect the population from extreme temperatures.

Nearly 12,000 deaths reported

According to new estimates from the Robert Koch Institute, around 11,900 people in the country have died as a result of heat-related impacts this summer.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that the Paks nuclear power plant, which had been temporarily shut down, would be restarted.

He also stated that the water level of the Danube had risen, but that a significant need to reduce electricity consumption was still expected.

Experts warn that prolonged heatwaves and droughts, intensified by the climate crisis, are placing enormous pressure on populations, infrastructure, and nature.

Environmentalists point out that energy systems based on fossil fuels are increasingly suffering the consequences of extreme weather conditions.

Increased fire risk

Heatwaves have further dried out vegetation and increased the risk of wildfires.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, around 500,000 hectares have burned in the European Union since the beginning of the year, mostly in Spain and France, while an additional 292,000 hectares have burned in Ukraine.

Austria recorded a record 41.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, while the scale of the wildfires is more than twice as large as the previous record for this time of year.

In the Czech Republic, fire-favorable conditions were more than 50 percent worse than before, while in Slovakia they were 32 percent worse.

According to an analysis by the World Weather Attribution consortium, global warming made last month’s combination of extreme heat, drought, and wind conditions at least 20 times more likely in Spain and twice as likely in France.