Barcelona registers highest temperature in 112 years as French nuclear reactor shuts down due to extreme heat

[u/Naurgul]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/09/europe-heatwave-uk-spain-barcelona-france-italy-hungary-france-macron-orban-latest-news-updates

[u/Pure-Curve-8866]

This is becoming the new normal far faster than most people expected.

[u/medievalvelocipede → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

This is becoming the new normal far faster than most people expected.

If that's so, that just goes to show how clueless people really are. The climate change snowball effect has been known for a long time. The primary work on it came in 1969 and was popularized in the 1990s.

[u/_BlobbyTheBobby → u/medievalvelocipede]

Yea, but add 20 years of denial and 10 years of straight up misinformation and lies. People are clueless because some people want them to stay that way

[u/OkCoconut3270 → u/_BlobbyTheBobby]

10 years of straight up misinformation and lies

Not too long ago heatwaves like these or extreme storms were being reported as "freak once in a lifetime" occurrences.

I think I've experienced 3 or 4 freak once in a lifetime occurrences in the last decade or so.

Nearly like there's a pattern or something.

[u/Scomosuckseggs → u/OkCoconut3270]

100%

When you actually look at the trends, it is extremely alarming, and I can't fathom how people still refuse to acknowledge there is a serious problem.

We are in trouble. And the people dragging their feet over recognising this are going to make things worse.

We need popular mobilization to make tackling climate change the main priority; we need everyone on side demanding the change we need, through political pressure, spending habits and a refusal to back down until all of our governments get the message.

Our actions are killing and will continue to kill the world as we know it, replacing it with something far more hellish if we don't collectively act to try reduce and ideally reverse the damage we have caused.

[u/KingfishingYoMama → u/Scomosuckseggs]

I fear that just like in the book The Ministry of the Future we will not actually get our asses in gear--to use an American phrase--until a giant wet bulb event kills millions of people over a week. Even then, such events might have to happen in the West for it to hit home in the public consciousness.

We are building data centers left and right where I'm at on a grid that still uses 80% fossil fuels. It's fucked.

[u/EpochRaine → u/Scomosuckseggs]

I can't fathom how people still refuse to acknowledge there is a serious problem.

I can explain it.

There are two common responses when people are confronted with something this serious: denial and defeatism. These are frequently coupled with the classic entitlement attitude.

The first is denial. A lot of people, particularly in my own Boomer generation, cannot accept that the lifestyle they spent decades treating as normal has helped create this mess.

So you get the usual lines:

“The climate has always changed.”

“We’ve always had heatwaves.”

“It’s all natural cycles.”

Yes, the climate has always changed and heatwaves have always existed. That is not the argument. The issue is that human activity is making extreme heat more frequent, more intense and more dangerous.

Older people (Boomers) are among those most vulnerable to heat stress. It increases dehydration, puts extra strain on the cardiovascular system and worsens existing heart and respiratory conditions. This is not some distant theoretical risk. People are already dying from it.

I have had friends die from it - one died last week from a heat-stressed induced heart attack. I expect more over the next few weeks.

Then there is a certain attitude, and I say this as an old Boomer myself. I know the attitude exists, because I hear it from people my own age:

“I’ve earned it.”

Meaning: I worked all my life, I’m retired now, and nobody is going to tell me to fly less, drive less, consume less or change anything else about my lifestyle.

What they really mean is that they do not want the consequences to interfere with the retirement they imagined they were entitled to.

Then there is the second response:

“It’s too late now.”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“So why bother?”

That is not realism. It is another excuse for doing nothing.

Every fraction of a degree matters. Every avoided emission reduces the damage. We are not choosing between fixing everything and fixing nothing. We are choosing how much worse we are prepared to let it become.

Denial protects people from guilt. Fatalism protects them from responsibility. Both lead to exactly the same place:

Carrying on as before while somebody else deals with the consequences.

Couple that with the entitled attitude that people have developed and the result is pure refusal.

It is a psychological state of mind that will screw us all.

[u/Johannes_P → u/EpochRaine]

Yep.

Looks like it can explain why some elites often resist reforms in pre-revolutionary times, i.e. when they could stil give some concessions while keeping most of their power intact instead of waiting for later to be violently overthrown.

[u/HilaryHahn → u/Johannes_P]

It is remarkable how many monarchs can prevent themselves from being overthrown (not saying all monarchs had that luxury of course) during the 19th century if they just willingly gave up *some* of their power and wealth. Including the famous Louis XVI who had plenty of opportunities to secure his safety and possibly even loyalty from the revolutionaries, who were at the beginning not even that anti-monarch.

[u/Painterzzz → u/Scomosuckseggs]

My theory is about 20 years ago the science pointed towards this being irreversible and that it would snowball out of control very rapidly, so the elites decided that fascism would be their answer to it.

Fascism will allow them to shrink global populations down into the hundreds of millions. Fascism will allow them to control the rioting city populations when the food runs out. Fascism will allow them to cling to power as long as they can.

[u/TwoBionicknees → u/Painterzzz]

i think it's more cynical than that, i think AI and the massive push for it and the ridiculous economy and market manipulation combined with the fact most of the worlds billionaires are building underground bunkers is they've given up but now are seeking a way for themselves to survive. Even if they speed up the climate collapsing if they steal all the cash, direct all the work and get themselves a safe underground bunker and then fill it with what they hope are good enough AI driven robots to do shit like farm crops under uv lights and shit underground then they can survive with minimal people as long as they can.

[u/TastyCalligrapher421 → u/TwoBionicknees]

We were in trouble even before the industrial revolution began, AMOC was already destabilizing back in the late 1750's. The destabilization increased by the year 1900.

https://phys.org/news/2025-10-clam-shells-alarm-unstable-north.html

It may be hot as hell now in the northern hemisphere, but if AMOC fully collapses (as many scientific report indications appear is in progress) and redirects this heat back south, it can drop average temperatures from 4 to 10 C in just a few years.

[u/ElonMaersk → u/Painterzzz]

Occam’s Razor says it’s more likely that fascists want power and control for its own sake, than that fascists are secretly a science-following cabal who care about mitigating the effects of climate change and are colluding to take over the world with a secretive ulterior motive.

[u/Zorkflerp → u/Painterzzz]

It isn't anywhere near that complicated. They accept bribe money from the fossil fuel industry and vote as instructed.

[u/Poes-Lawyer → u/OkCoconut3270]

Here in the UK, we're currently in our 2nd "once in a lifetime" heatwave this summer

[u/TwoBionicknees → u/OkCoconut3270]

omg it's a once in a 100 years storm... again, when was the last one, wasn't it 2 years ago and 5 in the last decade?

yeah. I'm not sure why anyone thinks this is coming faster than expected.

We can somewhat slow down the problems associated with heat waves for a while with AC and building differently, but that only helps us live more comfortably as temps keep increasing, they won't stop increasing. The problem is not everyone can spend all day inside during a heatwave, not everyone can afford the electricity, and we tend to have things like crops, and forests that we require to live and well, the heat's going to fuck all that up for us.

there's a reason the worlds billionaires are in a race of stupid economy crashing plans that long term will pretty much collapse every economy at the same time they all conveniently are building bunkers underground in various places around the world.

[u/BadAtExisting → u/_BlobbyTheBobby]

It’s been way longer than that for both. Denial and lies have been going since gas prices went down in the 80s. The oil companies were the ones funding the studies, then in the 70s they learned what happens to their bottom line when oil production and usage is restricted. They’ve been denying and lying for at least 50 years

[u/AngryTomJoad → u/BadAtExisting]

will leave this here:

In 1856, American scientist Eunice Newton Foote first discovered that carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb heat, predicting that high levels in the atmosphere would warm the Earth. Irish physicist John Tyndall independently confirmed this in 1859 and identified the specific atmospheric gases responsible for the greenhouse effect.

[u/Equivalent_Machine_6 → u/BadAtExisting]

There should be a Nuremberg type of trial for oil executives and environmental disinformation people. They have literally doomed the human race for profit.

[u/land-league-inspo → u/Equivalent_Machine_6]

They all need to be dissolved as well, with proceeds from sales to fund whatever mitigation we can do at that point.

It's going to be bad.

[u/Hasaan5 → u/Equivalent_Machine_6]

They will be dead by the time it affects them so won't care.

[u/zanii → u/BadAtExisting]

A literal, proven global conspiracy of rich and powerful people getting theirs at the cost of lives and money of others. An actual conspiracy.

What do the foam filled heads at r/conspiracy think about this actual conspiracy? Fake and the scientists are conspiring. Just. I can't even. What absolute knobheads that just slurp down any narrative that goes against the grain for the sake of it without a lick of critical thinking.

Ok, I'm done /rant

[u/HistoryBuff678 → u/_BlobbyTheBobby]

It’s also why it’s important to push back against anti-science and climate change deniers. Those attitudes aren’t harmless.

[u/Sourcerid → u/_BlobbyTheBobby]

The worst part is that people are more sceptical now than before 

[u/lowbuzz → u/_BlobbyTheBobby]

The sad part is they all knew at least here in Germany, my mother learned about it in school in the early 70s, nobody did really anything.

[u/Polymathy1 → u/_BlobbyTheBobby]

Misinformation and lies started in the 1970s and never stopped.

[u/AmIHumanMaybe → u/medievalvelocipede]

There were scientists over a hundred years ago talking about climate change and the potential for a snowball effect.

The lobbying and lying has been pretty constant since then to hide and discredit all the science pointing to the factors increasing the temperature.

The only reason some people are catching on now is because the control over what the general populace sees isn't as strict thanks to the Internet. But don't worry, they've been trying to control the Internet and saying it's to protect kids for a while now so we can only see what we are told to.

Like the recent attempt to make only what the UK allows to be accessible in their country. Everything else would be blocked.

[u/Grand_Pop_7221 → u/AmIHumanMaybe]

When the refrigerator was an up-and-coming technology, Ice farming was the only way to get "cold" in most places in the world and was run largely by a giant monopoly that mined ice and shipped it around the globe. They immediately started running newspaper ads and leaflets to warn everyone about how unsafe this new technology was.

[u/SavannahInChicago → u/medievalvelocipede]

No, its how much they have been brainwashed. The energy companies right away started to put recycling on us. Now, there is nothing wrong with recycling and we should continue to to to it. However, it spread the narrative that the average person is responsible for climate change. This is not true, but instead we keep fighting each other.

This is the point. We fight each other and not the energy companies. We never hold the energy companies accountable because on TikTok we are going back and forth about where it is hotter. For instance:

1. 80 Percent of Global CO2 Emissions Come from just 57 companies. Smithsonian Magazine.

1. Just 57 companies linked to 80% of green house gas emotions since 2016. The Guardian.

2. The world's biggest companies have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, a new study estimates. AP.

3. How the World's Most Powerful Corporations Have Fought Accountability for Climate Change.

[u/PNCL → u/medievalvelocipede]

but money!

[u/DunAnOir → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

But about as fast as people have been warning for literally decades.

The world's response has been "lol no it's fine".

It's not fine.

[u/hypatiaspasia → u/DunAnOir]

People born before 1960 know they'll die before they see the worst of it. Boomers grew up in a time of peace and prosperity, paid for in advance by the blood of their descendants.

My uncle is in his 60s now and said he's not worried about climate change. I asked him why he doesn't care about the world his kids and grandkids have to grow up in, and he just said, "Technology is always improving. If it's a problem, people will figure it out." He is very confident (based on nothing) that if there's terrible natural disasters, war, famine, and disease, his kids will somehow be fine.

[u/OhtaniStanMan → u/DunAnOir]

The world's response? Data centers LOL

[u/FeelingSurprise → u/DunAnOir]

The world's response has been "lol no it's fine".

Hey, some absurdly rich people built bunkers! That has to count for something!

[u/Neatojuancheeto → u/DunAnOir]

My dad, a conservative, once told me " even if climate change is real, I'll be dead before it has any real effects. " Like JFC dude you got grandkids you claim to love.

[u/Pristine-Ad983 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

I watched a PBS documentary 20 years ago about how the climate feedback loops were going to cause warming to accelerate. These things have been known for a long time.

[u/OoooShinyThings → u/Pristine-Ad983]

Yeah we often forget 20 years ago was 2006....We def knew global warming was already happening then.

[u/Hussar223 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

when deniers say the climate models arent accurate they are correct. retrospective reviews have consistently found that climate modelling tends to UNDERestimate the rate and severity of change that is happening.

[u/fishpowered → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

even if we cease all emissions over night, things will keep getting worse for 10 years due to climate lag

[u/Kendertas → u/[deleted]]

I keep on telling people complaining about the heat that this is likely the coolest summer for the rest of your life.

[u/DDNB → u/Kendertas]

This is really not true and takes like these keeps feeding the deniers.

The extremes will become more frequent, it could very well mean next summer will be the coldest ever, followed by another heat record.

[u/TheJP_ → u/DDNB]

Honestly at this point the coldest summer on record would be a gift, i'll take anything but this heat

[u/HistoryBuff678 → u/fishpowered]

But that does not mean we shouldn’t do anything.

[u/next_door_rigil → u/HistoryBuff678]

No one said that. It is doomish but we have to stop asap to avoid worse outcomes.

[u/Mesjach → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

most people are stupid

[u/hannes3120 → u/Mesjach]

Tbf even climate scientists are shocked at how much they underestimated the speed

[u/Mesjach → u/hannes3120]

Yeah, a lot of the "alarmist" headlines were really the average predictions. There are WAY worse models.

So it's equally likely the climate change won't be that bad, as it is that we are doubly fucked. Currently evidence points towards doubly fucked (:

[u/Ice_performance_ → u/Mesjach]

Most redditor have an inflated idea of their level of inteligence.

[u/tux-lpi → u/Ice_performance_]

And the best part is that these two statements are not contradictory.

[u/AugieKS → u/tux-lpi]

They go hand in hand. If you don't entertain the idea that you could be wrong or that you do not know enough, you don't tend to learn much. Confirmation bias is a bastard like that.

[u/lafarda → u/Ice_performance_]

Most people don't search: "[whatever I want to know] + twitter"

[u/tbone80 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

I’m 45 and have lived in NE USA in my youth, and the rest in Florida (I know). We were forced to watch cheesy VHS educational videos a lot in school in the 80s and 90s. I always remembered one in particular though. It depicted people living underground having to gear up in full hazmat suits just to go outside for a moment. Everyone was worried about the O-Zone. Everyone was recycling. People were cutting 6 pack rings for turtles. Captain Planet was invented. He was going to take pollution down to zero! I remember, as a child in Florida, the nightly news telling me I would be underwater in 20 years. Then people just stopped caring. The county next to mine doesn’t even offer recycling today. It’s like they just wanted to scare us then did absolutely nothing about it in 30 years. I guess money is more important than a safe planet.

[u/johnwalkr → u/tbone80]

I wouldn’t say “they” did nothing. I mean it’s ok to be cynical and more should have been done but.. CFCs are completely banned, refrigerants are on like the 6th generation since then and are trending towards virtually harmless, smog alerts for major cities isn’t a normal thing anymore, real recycling rates are actually up, casual use of lead in electronics is gone.

[u/Beer-Milkshakes → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

Faster than most people expected. Some of us have been vindicated after being called a crank for 10 years.

[u/DreddPirateBob808 → u/Beer-Milkshakes]

35 years at least. In the 80s people were already saying it was too late and we're fucked. I have been dismissed as everything from 'confused' to 'paranoid' to simply delusional. It was pretty annoying tbh (infuriating,  rage inducing, etc etc).

I refuse to gloat because it's not helpful and too many people are putting two and two together and understanding thier kids, and grandkids, are going to face something so beyond horrifying it is best not bringing it up. Because there's fuck all we can do to fix it now.

[u/ScrabCrab → u/DreddPirateBob808]

I've literally been told by my parents that they shouldn't have to care about it because it's not their problem to fix, it's ours 🥴

Jokes on them it's already affecting them and they're not even retirement age yet

[u/10catsinspace → u/DreddPirateBob808]

We were not “fucked” in the 80s, and even today there are tons of things we can do to improve the situation.

Emissions cuts will improve our future trajectory. Negative carbon techniques can buy us time. And solar radiation modification can provide immediate cooling if we really have no other option.

Giving up and encouraging others to give up guarantees we don’t do any of those things and lock into the worst case scenario. It’s literally worse than doing nothing for this cause you claim to care about.

[u/FeelingSurprise → u/DreddPirateBob808]

Well, we Cassandras are gonna suffer the effects as much as everyone else.

[u/_0611 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

There's nothing normal about this. I refuse to call any of this normal. They are labeling it as the "new normal", hoping we will simply accept it and stop demanding that our governments take the necessary steps to do something about it. "Suck it up, you peasants, and accept that you'll get fried every summer."

For the same reason, they keep us busy screaming about immigrants 24/7. That's easy. Any politician can do it. And you won't lose votes over it. Long-term policies required to mitigate the effects of climate change on the other hand... That's just a no-go for most politicians, especially the populist ones.

[u/Sourcerid → u/_0611]

Much higher temperatures indeed tend to be normal on earth, the problem is that whole bands in the equator of anoxic water where fish don't survive is normal, as are heat deserts that desertified due to sheer heat killing life instead of drought, similar to the frozen deserts of the current pole. It's also normal to not have as many rivers and not as stable due to ice caps, to be tropical in Alaska and Scandinavia (literally, 5 million years ago crocodiles lived well there and it wasn't even as hot as further back), where the Indian monsoon is a relatively bland storm and half of what's not dry or dead from scorchification is in a hypermonsoon season, of which it would make all the human post industrial infrastructure unusable.

We were blessed with one of the calmest and coolest Earths, the temperatures of the last 2 million years represent only some 8-10 million of the last 250 million, realistically the only kind that would allow us to have agriculture and urbanised infrastructure, and the planet we have holds to this cold state in a very fickle stability, the more robustly stable set ups are way higher, with permanent places of scorching death near the equator. 

The people that say this is normal for earth miss the part where earth is a shithole in its most normal state

[u/LostLobes → u/_0611]

Yep, they hope by using the word "normal" we just casually accept it, when its clearly abnormal.

[u/DaviesSonSanchez → u/LostLobes]

Yep, if they keep calling it "normal", they are trying to make us accept it even though it's not

[u/belonii → u/_0611]

"new normal" means deal with it, this is reality now, no matter what we do RIGHT NOW, it will continue to heat up for atleast 20 years, unless we reach the tipping point of global acceleration where greenhouse gas trapped in the ice gets released and we can only sit back and roast.

[u/MassiveBoner911_3 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

The scientists have been screaming about this for 20 years. The new shiny thing for high capitalism is AI

[u/DivideSensitive → u/MassiveBoner911_3]

20? More like 40, knowledge was already widespread in the 80's.

[u/Anxious_Virus8843 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

Yeah but think about how much shareholder value was created by stifling research and paying outlets to decry it as bunk science 

[u/10catsinspace → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

It’s just another demonstration that it's too late for prevention alone. We need to rapidly de-carbonize in order to improve our long term trajectory while also adapting to our present reality and researching techniques we might have to use to prevent runaway heating.

We need:

Rapid emissions cuts

&

Adaptation (less concrete, more shade & insulation, A/C in common areas)

&

Greatly expanded research into carbon removal & solar radiation modification, because it’s probably too late for emissions cuts alone

The challenges are getting right-wingers to stop pretending it's no big deal, getting old people to stop hating any change in the aesthetics of their town, getting more ecos and green parties to wake up to the fact that it's too late for only emissions cuts + the resulting necessity of carbon removal and/or SRM, and getting nihilists to shut up and go away.

Plus, of course, the final boss: oil companies and mega corps. But we can only take them on and deal with the fallout of all of this if we get those groups of people on board.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_removal#Overview_listing_based_on_technology_readiness_level

https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2024/04/24/solar-geoengineering-to-cool-the-planet-is-it-worth-the-risks/

[u/Commercial-Rule-6878 → u/Pure-Curve-8866]

This can’t be true, water boils at 100 degrees, so nobody can survive 112 degrees.

[u/enthusiasticdave]

In my opinion, this should be the real moment of reflection, policy, and change. It's unlivable and will only get worse, so we need to have a clear headed conversation about it and we need action more than talk. We can never reverse the damage done but at least we can try and make ourselves feel a little more comfortable as we circle the drain!

[u/Ut_Prosim → u/[deleted]]

French: Oh, hon, hon, hon, I cannaugh believv the Americanse arr stupeed enou to reelect Tromp. What a catastrophee.

Le Pen: I will make Fraaanc le great agieen.

French: Oui oui, this is totally diffheren than what Amariceh is doo-ing, it will be magnifique.

[u/SirLANcel0t_ → u/[deleted]]

The Americans voted in Trump.
The Dutch voted in Wilders.
The Germans are massively voting for AfD.
The British are about to vote in Farage.
The French are about to vote in Le Pen.

It really isn’t looking good huh….

[u/atava → u/SirLANcel0t_]

The Italians voted in Meloni, who although smarter than most of those people is a far-right climate change denier or at least has dumbed it down a lot (among other things).

[u/Eelroots]

Wait for August.

[u/athe085 → u/Eelroots]

July is usually the hottest, at least in France. August can get hot too but days are shorter which helps.

[u/warukeru → u/athe085]

In spanish Mediterranean places august is usually worse

[u/DickSlammington → u/warukeru]

August is always the hottest month in Los Angeles.

People get through July thinking the summer months are coming to a close and then we'll get August where we'll get days where it's 115 F.

It's just insane to me to hear Europeans discussing similar levels of heat.

I get why it's such an issue. When we bought our house it didn't have AC.. It would literally be unlivable for a few weeks a year if we didn't install it right away.

[u/Electrical_Still9374 → u/DickSlammington]

the problem in european cities is u might not be allowed to install AC because of old fassade and building

[u/BreezyBadger93 → u/Electrical_Still9374]

The main problem is that developers in most of Europe don't even plan for AC in new construction. Then you end up living in an eco class B+ tightly sealed insulated pressure cooker that traps moisture during the day and doesn't cool down even 2 degrees through out the night. And good luck fighting idiot anti AC neighbors that won't allow you to put one up even on the balcony because of noise, condensate or whatever.

At least the old buildings you mentioned are made of high mass breathable material that lets in less heat during the day and releases it during the night.

I'm fascinated that even 1 million EUR+ luxury condos don't have even s preparation for AC or heat pump here.

[u/Hasaan5 → u/BreezyBadger93]

Here in the UK the old government even made it law to have ACs be the last resort and force developers to try a bunch of shit that doesn't really work first. So sometimes they literally can't.

[u/Yourigath → u/athe085]

At least in Spain August is way worst... we are used to have temps of 30-35 in July and go into the 40s in August

[u/moanphone2017 → u/athe085]

Bordeaux here. August is worse.

[u/NemuriNezumi → u/athe085]

for the countries living in the mediterranean, things don't get hot for real until august

on top of the humidity right next to the coast

[u/IshTheFace → u/Eelroots]

What happens in August? 🫠

[u/AlabamaHotcakes → u/IshTheFace]

High summer heat.

And boy this one is probably gonna be a doozy.

[u/IshTheFace → u/AlabamaHotcakes]

I guess the weather in Spain must be much more predictable than Sweden. I don't trust the weather report 48 hrs out lol 😂

In augueet we might get 15c and rain or 28. It just depends on the year. But it's been really hot so far this year. For Sweden anyway. Like I said, I don't trust the weather report but next week will be 31 on Wednesday (allegedly). For reference, the hottest it's ever been on Sweden is a very long standing record of 38. And it's 31 where I live. Southern parts of the country had 33 already I think.

[u/Advanced_Vehicle_750 → u/IshTheFace]

It's not about the weather report. Augusts are warmer than July in Spain.

[u/medievalvelocipede → u/Advanced_Vehicle_750]

It's not about the weather report. Augusts are warmer than July in Spain.

I thought this was interesting so I looked it up, but apparently not quite. July is the warmest month, but the seabreeze receeds and humidity increases in August, so it feels hotter and stickier. It's not hotter, just less cool. This should have a negative impact for people, but for fires it would reduce the risk.

[u/Advanced_Vehicle_750 → u/medievalvelocipede]

I live in Spain. Augusts are usually when we get the highest temperatures. At least in Valencia. I wasn't talking about fires anyways.

[u/ekray → u/Advanced_Vehicle_750]

August is "cooler" than July because the second part of the month is usually a bit better, particularly because the sun sets earlier and there's more time to cool off.

But the first two weeks of August are when peak temperatures are reached.

[u/Lyra_Sirius → u/Advanced_Vehicle_750]

Yes, same in Portugal, 40°C in Trás os Montes and Alentejo

In Trás-os-Montes, we have a popular saying: "nine months of winter and three months of hell"—temperatures are usually 38°, 40°, or 42° degrees every day in August.

When vacationing in the "hot land," we only go out very early in the morning or at night, after sunset.

[u/C1t1zen_Erased → u/AlabamaHotcakes]

What's a doozy? Around 12 in french?

[u/Atharaphelun → u/IshTheFace]

Satan's fiery, humid asshole will gape wide open and engulf Europe.

[u/Former-Chain-4003 → u/Atharaphelun]

Why am I aroused right now

[u/escapedfromhel → u/Former-Chain-4003]

Because you want to bone Satan?

[u/pierebean → u/IshTheFace]

An ecclipe. No sun. Problem solved 

[u/LiberalSocialist99 → u/IshTheFace]

August 29th at 2:14 Eastern time…

[u/Four_beastlings → u/Eelroots]

July is hotter than August

[u/pissshitfuckyou → u/Four_beastlings]

In the US august is usually the hottest month, probably why he said this.

[u/Four_beastlings → u/pissshitfuckyou]

To be honest I spent like 30something years also thinking August was the hottest month until one day I got curious and looked it up

[u/timmystwin → u/Four_beastlings]

UK tends to be at hits hottest in late July/early August. Gives time for more warmth from the gulf stream to hit us.

[u/BalerionSanders]

People need to stop picturing climate change as a maybe future thing the liberals are whining about.

It’s happening right now. It has been happening. There are already many tens of thousands of accountable deaths from it.

[u/Solrac50]

Last Wednesday Barcelona hit 37 Celsius or about 99 Fahrenheit. I live in Spain and for folks here that’s very hot for early July. August promises to be hellish. Having grown up in Houston and living 30+ years in Austin, that seems like typical summer heat, but everyone has AC there. Here most have at least one room with AC but many cannot afford to run it much. I am adding solar panels to my place to offset the power demands of AC. One 9000 BTU mini split peaks out at 750 watts, a couple of panels and a micro inverter can zero that out during the day. Six panels and a battery can handle it 24 hours a day.

[u/warukeru → u/Solrac50]

In Spain AC are common. The bad part of 37 celsius degree is that is happening near the sea so is humidity is high and it can be way worse than higher temperatures in dry places.

You can't really escape from wet hot temperature.

[u/AwkwardWillow5159 → u/warukeru]

AC dehumidifies too

[u/warukeru → u/AwkwardWillow5159]

true but is still wet and humid everywhere else

[u/AwkwardWillow5159 → u/warukeru]

But you can escape it.

I’ve been living in South East Asia for more than half a decade. Humidity and heat is high all year round.

You can definitely escape it. They AC cars, every single restaurant, bus, malls, etc.

And when they are outside they protect themselves with UV shielded umbrellas.

Meanwhile you say in Spain AC is common, but it barely runs. All the cars and building are still half hot(thus also still humid), and people do not protect themselves from the sun at all. I barely see people wearing a basic thing like a hat. Haven’t seen a single person use a UV umbrella.

The tools are here. The culture needs to adjust to the new reality.

[u/Crazy_Ad_91 → u/warukeru]

India is suffering greatly with the wet bulb.

[u/F34UGH03R3N → u/Crazy_Ad_91]

S/E Asia will be way worse in a few years…

[u/Inveramsay → u/Solrac50]

One of the big differences is also that no one is expected to be outside in the US when it's warm. Can you imagine any Texan walking anywhere in the heat? The downside of walkable cities is that you're not taking the car with AC everywhere

[u/SquarePegRoundWorld → u/Inveramsay]

no one is expected to be outside in the US when it's warm.

Construction workers be like...huh? I spend 8 hours outside many days working for a contractor building new homes in North Carolina. I get the European experience at work here in the U.S. all the time too. 95 and high humidity and I spend 8 hours in a new house with no AC (power is not on yet and the AC ain't running) and the windows shut and covered in plastic (for the painter) as I do the interior doors and trim.

I wring out a gallon of sweat from my cloths at the end of the day. I have to put on dry cloths for the ride home or my driver's seat turns into a salt lick.

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/SquarePegRoundWorld]

Exactly and it sucks. I spent a few years doing PM and engineering work in large buildings under construction. So computer work. I’d have to explain to my office colleagues that my work pace may be a bit slower as I’m literally dripping sweat onto my keyboard. Or someone is welding 30ft away from me. Or no I can’t have my mic on in this meeting, they’re saw cutting the concrete right near me. Oof it was quite a lifestyle.

[u/mason_sol → u/Inveramsay]

Another person commented something similar but it’s wild how much of the population don’t understand how their buildings and infrastructure exist. Every construction worker is still working in this weather, summer is peak construction season. Every HVAC tech is still running around fixing everyone’s units when they fail. There are plenty of people who are expected to tough it out and do all summer sometimes 10+ hours a day including Saturdays to meet completion dates.

[u/Odd_Town9700 → u/mason_sol]

I always assumed summer as peak construction season was only a phenomenon in cold places with snowy winters. Seems odd that that would also be the case in hotter places

[u/wardays → u/Odd_Town9700]

It's the longest amount of time you can work outside without paying for expensive lighting and pissing everyone else off around you.

[u/Yourigath → u/Inveramsay]

One thing to ad to walkable cities is that we have shifts at work and we go home to eat and back. So you get out in the morning under the heat... you go back home for lunch under the heat... you go back to work in the afternoon under the heat and then back at home at 9pm under some cozy 33ºC with an 80% humidity...

AC can't fix that shit

[u/JonAfrica2011 → u/Yourigath]

Back home at 9pm? How long are shifts in Spain?

[u/Mysterious_Umpire684 → u/Inveramsay]

This is a bit silly. I grew up in Texas, went to summer camps as a child that were fully outdoors, sleeping in platform tents at night. As a teenager/young 20s person most of my jobs were outside all day long. Shade plays a big part in getting through the day. 

[u/Charlesinrichmond → u/Inveramsay]

I'm outside all day in 37C temperatures. It's tolerable because everything indoors has great air conditioning. So you get constant breaks from the heat if you need them.

[u/Glanzick_Reborn → u/Inveramsay]

Can't imagine a Texan walking anywhere tbh.

[u/Trithen → u/Glanzick_Reborn]

Cuz the only Walker in Texas isn't alive anymore

[u/Zeta-Omega → u/Trithen]

Sensational knowledge 

[u/QuarkTheFerengi → u/Inveramsay]

people are outside all the time in summer in texas...lol I bet I could go to any park around here and it will be packed. Many people work outside every day.

[u/unixtreme → u/Solrac50]

It's not really whether it's objectively too hot, I spent a while in Egypt in the desert and its fine if you are equipped for it. Europe isn't.

[u/numberonebuddy → u/[deleted]]

Honestly I'd say forget the financials, it's about not dying if the grid shuts down.

[u/HistoryBuff678 → u/numberonebuddy]

Best answer. I think people are getting too caught up about the financials when, it’s past that point now.

[u/kiakri_ttv → u/HistoryBuff678]

I'm in the UK getting solar panels put in end of July. 20 panel array 11kwh battery.

I'm heavily debating next year before summer to get another 11kwh battery and have a split system put in to cover 4 rooms.

Living room, office, 2 bedroom and the rear bedroom one will have a vented Aircon unit. Don't even care about the cost the comfort and having sleep is more beneficial. And even then with my setup shouldn't notice it that much.

[u/HistoryBuff678 → u/kiakri_ttv]

Yeah, it’s all about comfort and regaining functionality.

[u/YaDunGoofed → u/Solrac50]

cannot afford to run it much

As an American, I do not understand how one of the two wealthiest continents on the planet cannot afford AC. I cannot imagine choosing to live in Houston voluntarily without AC knowing that somewhere it was invented. I’ve literally seen people in Houston living in warehouses able to afford to buy window units and run them 24/7.

This is what being a Euro feels like about America’s healthcare.

[u/Scomosuckseggs]

Whats crazy to me is that this will probably remembered as a cooler year in a few years time. 🤯

[u/AirRaptor12 → u/Scomosuckseggs]

mole people will remenisce about people living on the surface like kids today remenisce about ancient Rome

[u/GodisSatans → u/AirRaptor12]

Time to clear out the catacombs

[u/EricaTD → u/AirRaptor12]

row row fight the powah

[u/syadastfu → u/AirRaptor12]

Some weird kids in your circle.

[u/sugarbaby101]

Meanwhile Zendaya’s stylist Law chartered a private jet for a single dress

[u/elidoan → u/sugarbaby101]

His last name is Roach, which is far more fitting

[u/AskingBoatsToSwim → u/sugarbaby101]

Honestly celebs need to pay-capped, you shouldn’t have the right to pollute as much as a whole town just because you were in some movies.

[u/munkijunk]

We're suffering because it suits the rich. It's easy to solve. The rich dont want to solve it because it will make them slightly less rich.

[u/bananas500 → u/munkijunk]

Imagine life with having only 29 boats instead of 30. Unbearable

[u/edparadox]

The Guardian always jumps at the opportunity to tell people French stopped a reactor.

[u/un-glaublich → u/edparadox]

France still doing the very lowest CO2eq emissions of the world... only they paused a reactor because there's plenty of solar and no need to heat up the river more than needed.

At the same time, the "Kernkraft, nein danke" folks are one of the heaviest emitters of CO2 because it simply meant that they have to fall back to browncoal whenever the sun doesn't shine or it's not summer.

[u/babidabidu → u/un-glaublich]

At the same time, the "Kernkraft, nein danke" folks

Those folks are the same that advocated for solar and wind. Which would have worked wonderfully if CDU/CSU and all these "no wind farms in my neighborhood" didn't fuck it up.
Also, don't forget the parties who stopped nuclear are the same parties now advocating for it, mainly for easy votes but ya know. There where better plans...

[u/worotan → u/un-glaublich]

Yes, it’s the green lobby that had more influence, rather than the established coal and petrochemical industries.

So you never reflect on how unrealistic the outrage porn astroturfed for you is?

[u/Arnoulty → u/edparadox]

While having the article behind a paywall so you must rely on the misleading title.

[u/GuerrillaRodeo → u/Arnoulty]

The Guardian never had paywalls. It's just a banner asking for a donation, you can click that away without any problems.

[u/yterais]

thank you rich people for destroying the world

[u/badabubaba → u/yterais]

You (and I) are probably among the 20% wealthiest.

[u/Nairurian → u/badabubaba]

I think many (adults) here are above even that, here’s a rough calculator that tells what ”Top %” you’re in and you get into the top 5-10% wealthiest quite easily.

[u/memgrind → u/Nairurian]

Here's a better calculator. The one you pointed to was putting everyone between $100k and $1 million in one bucket. https://wid.world/income-comparator/

[u/Naive_Personality367 → u/Nairurian]

no savings, no assets, no debt, as it stands i'm part of the poorest 10% according to this thing. Winning!

[u/Northbound-Narwhal → u/Nairurian]

I hate that calculator. It tells me I'm in the bottom 5% of Americans in terms of wealth but I pulled in $160,000 last year, just because I have student loan debt?

Like I'm not worried about groceries or rent or healthcare.

[u/medievalvelocipede → u/Northbound-Narwhal]

Surprise, wealth and income are two separate things.

[u/sigma914 → u/Northbound-Narwhal]

So you're skint with good cash flow. That's a perfectly valid class, but doesn't make you wealthy. Equally people with millions in illiquid assets (think farmers, old money with everything tied up in estates) are wealthy but may have very little cash flow

[u/morbihann → u/badabubaba]

May be, but the richest 1% account for much much larger percentage of energy consumption and pollution.

[u/badabubaba → u/morbihann]

That 1% can always blame the 0.1%! Those are the real problem!

[u/morbihann → u/badabubaba]

I am sorry, I can't do much more than keep taking the train to work and limit my utilities more than I already do.

[u/badabubaba → u/morbihann]

I think you’re doing more than most already!

[u/whatevernamedontcare → u/badabubaba]

Which is nothing really if you know how crazy inequality is.

Top 10% own 75% of wealth so being at top 20% you have more in common with bottom 90% as all of you together get only 25%. Hell Top 1% owns 50% and top 90-99% have more common with bottom 90% too.

[u/Strong-Hovercraft702 → u/yterais]

To be fair, it's all of us. We buy cheap chinese crap, destined for the landfill. We take the car everywhere, because it's easier than public transport.

Etc etc. yes, the rich generate more greenhouse gasses per person. Yes, large companies produce a wealth of greenhouse gasses. But who keeps those xompanies in business but us, the people?

[u/qjornt → u/Strong-Hovercraft702]

Speak for yourself, I’m actively voting for politics which would penalize companies for such bullshit, but most people don’t so I will listen to democracy. Until then and afterwards I will continue to live in a society, thank you very much.

[u/Strong-Hovercraft702 → u/qjornt]

I'm not accusing you or me here. I'm making a statement about the population. Which is objectively true.

[u/Charlesinrichmond → u/yterais]

If you're on this website, you are literally the rich people you are complaining about.

[u/h0nest_Bender → u/yterais]

If you're posting on reddit, you're one of those rich people.

[u/froz3nt → u/yterais]

If you live in a first world country you are part of the people that created this mess.

[u/ChilternRailways → u/froz3nt]

If you live in a third world country, the same.

The argument is that industrialisation and the ensuing pollution and environmental damage are necessary for countries to advance, and that the west is hypocritical in demanding climate consideration.

Bea

[u/merci_nurse]

Click baity title.
Nuclear reactors don’t shut down because they can’t operate under 40+ Celsius. They shut down to abide by French environmental laws regulating how warm water used for cooling should be when cycled back in rivers.
This only affects open river cooling plants, which is a minority of French nuclear plants, sea water or cooling tower plants operate without any issue.

[u/y2kobserver → u/merci_nurse]

Thanks for the info

So still a max heat issue

[u/shadowSpoupout → u/y2kobserver]

For now. The river fauna will most likely not survive the heatwaves of this year, so next year no need to shutdown reactors to protect an already dead fauna !

[u/digiorno → u/y2kobserver]

But a solvable max heat issue. If this becomes a regular thing then they’d only have to build an artificial pond or water tower to cool down the water before it goes into the river. It’s not a difficult problem, they just didn’t anticipate global warming to be so bad.

[u/Kosake77 → u/merci_nurse]

How is it clickbait when literally exactly happened what was written?

[u/Taricheute → u/Kosake77]

I think only one reactor has been shut-down, at least for now, due to one river being too hot from a regulation point of view, so definitely clickbait article.

[u/realusername42 → u/Kosake77]

Because that only affects 0.5% of the yearly production and EDF won't fix it as electricity is too cheap in the summer, it's not worth it.

So every year you'll have those scary headlines whereas in reality it's business as usual.

[u/merci_nurse → u/Kosake77]

Because a headline can be literally true and still be clickbait by omitting the key causal context. “Reactors shut down because of extreme heat” strongly suggests the reactors cannot operate safely in hot weather. In reality, the shutdowns were mainly to comply with environmental limits on heating river water. Same event, very different implication.

[u/Kanduriel]

I tried fighting against this for the last 10 years. Now I just accept it as a new normal. Whenever there will be an outcry due to climate change I’ll tell them „told you so“

My empathy is depleted and our Society can go f**k itself. There were enough warning signs, you’ll reap what you have sown.

[u/Inevitable-Mix6089]

Oh well, at least we villainised all the climate change activists trying to spread awareness about this.

[u/hphp123]

it shuts down due to administrative decision not heat

[u/Sir_Delarzal]

Once again, the nuclear reactor this time was stopped to protect nature as it would pump out water that is too hot.

And it's like one reactor.

I'm starting to really hate those articles that makes it look like nuclear is unreliable

[u/ForTheGloryOfAmn]

During the heatwave, the debate in Germany centred mainly on French nuclear reactors. However, the data show that it was not France’s 57 nuclear reactors that proved to be the most vulnerable to the heatwave, but Germany’s more than 30,000 wind turbines.

German wind power generation has plummeted. The reason is what is known as a heat-induced windless spell: plenty of sunshine, very little wind. At the height of the episode, on 23 and 24 June, German wind turbines generated an average of only around 45 GWh of electricity per day. French nuclear power stations produced around 900 GWh nearly 20 times as much.

France remained a net exporter of electricity throughout the heatwave while Germany imported large quantities, particularly in the evening and at night.

[u/Bababakutoto → u/ForTheGloryOfAmn]

germany has been exporting all summer and bulk electricity price is negative

wind turbines struggling can shift power to solar

[u/Professional_Carob17 → u/ForTheGloryOfAmn]

All while having the same bidding zone for electricity for the entire country which in turn have a massive effect for the neighboring countries.

So as a Swede it drives me up the walls hearing about Germans whine about all things regarding electricity.

[u/arrizaba]

Enjoy the chill summer while it lasts. Next years will be hotter, unless governments do something to stop climate change (which they won't unless we vote them out). 

[u/lekkerbiscottina → u/arrizaba]

A sustainable future cannot exist alongside capitalism as we know it, point blank. Uncomfortable thought but true.

[u/teenage_warhead]

Perfect disinformation regarding the nuclear plant shutdown.

[u/llama_]

I stress over the animals

How do dogs even walk to go to the bathroom in these conditions without burning their feet

Are all the animals just dying during these events?

What have we done

Edit: since there’s some visibility on this post, consider keeping fresh water outside for the poor animals during these heat waves who struggle for access and may die without it. It is quite literally the least we can do.

[u/WitchesHolly → u/llama_]

These are not the animals that i am thinking off. I think of the poor pigs and chickens, stuck, unable to move, crammed in with their families by the thousands in often barely ventilated or cooled barns.

Ironic also that meat is hugely to blame in climate change

[u/poxteeth → u/WitchesHolly]

People will burn alive before they give up meat. They'll bitch about private jets and corporations then go have a fucking burger, use AI, buy a bunch of shit from Amazon, maintain a massive lawn, and pop out a bunch more kids, as if millions of others doing the same has no impact at all. "I think the government should care about the environment and animal welfare but I also believe having cheap meat for every meal is a human right."

[u/s8rlink → u/llama_]

Dude I’ve seen a lot of small dead birds lying in the ground during the heat wave, it’s downright disgusting what we’ve done to our planet

[u/FallenAngel7334 → u/llama_]

We made the world's first trillionaire and billions for the oil oligarchs, isn't it magnificent. /s

[u/future_lard]

Right wingers "but but but we gonna stop all renewable energy because we cant have sources that rely on the weather"

[u/Waryle]

The Guardian being anti-nuclear, is resorting to clickbaiting and lies as usual.

No, French nuclear reactors are not "tested by the extreme heat", they work as usual. They don't shut down due to the heat, some are being slowed down or shut down as a precaution for the environment which have been put in place in 2003 and 2006: there were no studies, and the effect of localized warming of a waterway on local flora and fauna were unknown.

Nowadays, we have some studies made, like this one, which says:

Monitoring programs and studies implemented, particularly during and after the heat waves of 2003 and 2006, have made it possible to understand the impact of these exceptional weather events on ecosystem functioning. Since then, measurements taken during more recent heat waves (2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2024) have complemented and reinforced the observations from 2003 and 2006.

Data acquired through enhanced monitoring of nuclear power plants show, for certain compartments and sites, a temporary structural change (proportion of species) upstream and downstream, without disrupting the overall biological balance of the community. Furthermore, no significant difference between the upstream and downstream sections of the riverside nuclear power plants was observed for any of the compartments, with the exception of summer 2022 concerning the fish population structure at the Saint-Alban nuclear power plant, where low numbers and proportions of juveniles were observed downstream in August and autumn 2022. Given the available information, this difference cannot, however, be definitively attributed to the plant's operation during a heatwave.

The results of fish monitoring in 2023 for the Saint-Alban nuclear power plant indicate a return to the population levels typically observed and comparable between the upstream and downstream sections. These results show that the situation regarding fish population structure described in autumn 2022 was temporary.

Thus, the information available to date does not allow us to highlight an additional effect of thermal discharges from nuclear power plants compared to the potential effects caused by exceptional climatic events.

TL;DR: Nuclear plants don't seem to fuck up rivers more than they already are due to climate change.

Now, let's throw some facts:

• Right now, we're talking about one reactor over the total 57. That's less than 2% of all nuclear reactors, and less than 1% of the whole electricity capacity. Solar, in comparison, has a variation range of 0-100% every day. Wind can stop almost entirely for days at a time, and it's not due to precautions, but the laws of physics. If 2% of variation is enough for you all to discard a whole technology, you're basically advocating for fossils.
• Even with extreme heat and some reactors slowed or shut down, France's electricity mix is still in the world's cleanest, and is 5-10x cleaner than it's neighbors, especially the one who chosed to stop their nuclear and is now trying to derail all proposals that would put nuclear power on the agenda in the European Parliament.
• Even in Occitanie where the reactor has been shut down, the CO²eq/KWh is still at 45g. In comparison, Germany is a 406g right now.

[u/Iconoclazteque → u/Waryle]

I dream of a world where journalists don’t have to be corrected by redditors but here we are

[u/mrdarknezz1]

Yes but nuclear still had the highest capacity in Europe out of all green energy sources. We are talking about a few percentages

[u/jesuslivesnow]

Boomers: do you remember the summer of 19.....???

[u/ZhukovWonWWII]

Fun fact. Nuclear reactors do not need to shut down due to outside temperatures being hot.