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GENEVA / WMO EUROPE FLOODS
STORY: GENEVA / WMO EUROPE FLOODS
TRT: 02:41
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 JULY 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND/ FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations
16 JULY 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Med shot, large-screen TV at hybrid press conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“Heavy rainfall has triggered devastating flooding causing dozens of casualties in western Europe, Germany and Belgium have been the worst affected in terms of loss of life.”
4. Wide shot, press conference room, participants, TV camera on tripod
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“We’ve seen images of houses being…swept away, it’s really, really devastating.”
6. Close up, Clare Nullis seen through TV camera viewfinder
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“Europe on the whole is prepared, but you know, when you get extreme events, such as what we’ve seen - two months’ worth of rainfall in two days - it’s very, very difficult to cope; and I’ve seen photos this morning from I think it was Rhineland-Pfalz, just, just, utter devastation, you know it’s always heart-breaking.”
8. Close up, participant wearing mask, taking notes during press conference, Clare Nullis shown speaking on TV to rear
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“But it’s not just the flooding, at the same time parts of Scandinavia are enduring a lasting heatwave.”
10. Wide shot, participants in the press conference, seated and masked
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“Just to give you one example, there’s a place called Kouvola Anjala, my pronunciation’s not very good, it’s in southern Finland, it’s seen 27 consecutive days with temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius; this is Finland, you know, it’s not Spain, it’s not north Africa, it’s Finland.”
12. Med shot, participant, masked, checks mobile phone while WMO spokesperson speaks
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“The Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea is record warm according to researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, up to 26.6 degrees Celsius on 14 July. So that’s the warmest recorded temperature of the waters since records began.”
14. Med shot, participants, masked, seated side by side
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“We need to step up climate action, we need to step up the level of ambition; we’re not doing nearly enough to stay, you know, within the targets of the Paris Agreement and keep temperatures below two degrees Celsius, even 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of this century.”
16. Various shots, participants, seated and masked
Heavy rainfall that has triggered deadly and catastrophic flooding in several western European countries this week is just the latest indicator that all countries need to do more to hold back climate change-induced disasters, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
The agency said that countries including Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands had received up to two months’ rain in two days from 14 to 15 July, on ground that was “already near saturation.”
Photos taken at the scene of some of the worst water surges and landslides show huge gaping holes where earth and buildings had stood until mid-week.
“Heavy rainfall has triggered devastating flooding causing dozens of casualties in western Europe, Germany and Belgium have been the worst affected in terms of loss of life,” said WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis, after media reports pointed to well over 100 confirmed fatalities in both countries on Friday morning, with an unknown number still missing across vast areas.
“We’ve seen images of houses being…swept away, it’s really, really devastating,” Nullis said, adding that that the disaster had overwhelmed the prevention measures put in place by the affected developed countries.
“Europe on the whole is prepared, but you know, when you get extreme events, such as what we’ve seen - two months’ worth of rainfall in two days - it’s very, very difficult to cope; and I’ve seen photos this morning from I think it was Rhineland-Pfalz, just, just, utter devastation, you know it’s always heart-breaking,” she said.
In contrast to the wet conditions, parts of Scandinavia continue to endure scorching temperatures, while smoke plumes from Siberia have affected air quality across the international dateline in Alaska. Unprecedented heat in western north America has also triggered devastating wildfires in recent weeks.
“It’s not just the flooding, at the same time parts of Scandinavia are enduring a lasting heatwave,” Nullis said, referring to Kouvola Anjala in southern Finland.
“It’s seen 27 consecutive days with temperatures above 25C; this is Finland, you know, it’s not Spain, it’s not north Africa, it’s Finland.”
The WMO spokesperson underlined concerns about rising sea temperatures, too, describing the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea as “record warm (and) up to 26.6C on 14 July. So that’s the warmest recorded temperature of the waters since records began.”
Echoing a call by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to all countries to do more to avoid a climate catastrophe linked to rising emissions and temperatures, Nullis urged action, ahead of this year’s UN climate conference, known as COP26, in Glasgow, in November.
“We need to step up climate action, we need to step up the level of ambition; we’re not doing nearly enough to stay, you know, within the targets of the Paris Agreement (on Climate Change) and keep temperatures below two degrees Celsius, even 1.5C, by the end of this century.”
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