europe
Move over bears. Fat Marmot Week puts a spotlight on the alpine rodents
GOTHIC | Last winter was tough for marmots living high in the Colorado mountains, where researchers say two-thirds of one population died while hibernating because of insufficient snow cover. Those that survived are doing well, fattening up in time not just for fall and hibernation season but … drumroll, please … the very first Fat […]
UK and France prepare for another heat wave as western Europe sets new temperature record
PARIS | The U.K. and France are bracing for the fifth heat wave of the season, adding to an intense stretch of hot weather that has repeatedly sent temperatures soaring across Europe since May. National weather agency Météo-France is warning about temperatures approaching 40 C (104 F) from Tuesday onward in southeastern France. And in […]
The Danube River’s water is dropping so low that World War II ships are emerging
PRAHOVO, Serbia | Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low because of drought that the hulks of dozens of World War II German warships are emerging into view. They are a curious distraction from the summer heat crisis. The Danube’s record low water levels also have forced […]
PERRY: The heat is on for real. So is the Trump chicanery linked to climate change denial
Hot enough for ya? That used to prompt a smile when I was a kid picking melons and tomatoes in Manzanola. It’s not funny as more than 10,000 people in Europe drop dead from the heat, above the normal amount of heat-related deaths. Records keepers expect the 1,200 or so normal U.S. heat-related deaths will […]
Ancient mummy DNA provides scientific evidence that colonization brought smallpox to the Americas
NEW YORK | Ancient mummy DNA recovered in Chile has yielded the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas. Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in human history before it was eradicated in 1980, largely thanks to vaccination. For centuries, the virus had killed about one-third of the people it […]
Dry, hot summers are putting Dutch dikes at risk and threatening German river trade
WADDINXVEEN, Netherlands | Jeroen Wouda and Dirk Boom walk slowly along a Dutch dike, prodding at the bone dry surface with metal rods and scanning the parched grass for patches of green that could give away the location of a leak. In a scene that brings to mind the fictional Dutch boy who heroically plugs […]
As France tames wildfire and lets 84,000 evacuees go home, blazes flare across Europe
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France | France gave the go-ahead Thursday for 84,000 evacuees forced out by a monster wildfire to return to home, the strongest sign yet that firefighters are turning a corner in a grueling battle against the flames that have burned an area four times the size of Paris. But blazes flared elsewhere across […]
Europe’s extreme heat would be impossible without climate change, scientists say
The record-breaking heat that’s scorching Europe day and night this month would not have been possible without climate change, according to a new study. The World Weather Attribution rapid study released Friday found that the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago, and is 200 times more likely today than it would […]