Bad weather got serious several times around the world this year, with some places struck by different disasters just months apart. Experts think global warming has a part to play, even as 2021 is set to be “only” the fifth to seventh hottest year on record, with respite offered by a cooling La Niña phenomenon.

In fact, the World Meteorological Organisation says extreme weather events are now the “new norm”. It found such incidents to have increased five-fold over the past 50 years.

Eco-Business looks back at eight infamous weather events this year.

  • US-Canada summer heatwave Temperatures reached a record 49.6 degrees Celsius in Canada at the end of June. The measurement, taken in a village in British Columbia, smashed a national eight-decade record by over 4°C.

    Five days of heatwaves in western Canada caused over 800 deaths, while some estimates put the toll at around 600 lives in neighbouring United States.

    Multiple forest fires on the continent occurred around this period. The “Dixie fire” that started on 13 July in northern California was the second largest in the state’s history. Nearly one million acres burned.

  • Europe summer floods Rain clouds that stalled over Germany in July caused floods that killed almost 200 people. Similar conditions caused over 40 deaths in Belgium, and billions of dollars of damage across Europe.

    Scientists believe Europe’s deadliest flood since 1985 was made up to nine times more likely because of climate change, and that rainfall in the region was up by nearly 20 per cent. Germany’s weather service said that some parts of the country received more rain in a day during the floods than twice the July monthly average.

  • Europe summer wildfires While floodwaters drained from Germany and Belgium, record summer temperatures of over 45°C fanned wildfires across southern European countries like Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey - where eight fatalities were reported. Fires also raged in Siberia, Russia, with smoke reaching the North Pole.

Read the full article about extreme weather disasters by Liang Lei at Eco-Business.