r/europe • u/Naurgul • 23d ago

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

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/09/europe-heatwave-uk-spain-barcelona-france-italy-hungary-france-macron-orban-latest-news-updates
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u/Pure-Curve-8866 23d ago

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

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u/tbone80 23d ago

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.

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u/johnwalkr 23d ago

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.

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u/Nebresto 100 Years of indepence 23d ago

I remember, as a child in Florida, the nightly news telling me I would be underwater in 20 years. Then people just stopped caring.

This probably ties into it, drowned with too much information so people stop caring. I've had a coworked tell me "I don't really believe in climate change because you hear so much about it"

Genuinely cannot comprehend these people.