Expert says warming link to Europe floods ‘plausible’

BERLIN: With extreme weather killing more than 150 people in Europe and searing heat across parts of North America, the debate around climate change has grown more fierce in recent weeks.

But can global warming really be blamed for these very different, isolated events in different parts of the world?

According to Jean Jouzel, a climatologist and former vice-president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there is a “plausible” link, though it has not been proven yet. “Unfortunately, we are in the early stages of global warming, and what lies ahead will be even worse,” he told AFP. “We must not kid ourselves that climate change is limited to a few isolated disasters or to one region or time period.”