Tropical weather has arrived in Czechia – but what’s the climate impact?

Illustrative photo: Hana Slavická, Radio Prague International

Czechia experienced its first bout of tropical weather this past weekend, with temperatures reaching as high as 30 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country. While the warmer weather is welcomed by some, it’s indicative of a larger problem being experienced globally – climate change. Miroslav Havránek, a researcher from the Charles University Environment Centre, told me more.

We had a really warm weekend here in Prague and all over Czechia. Temperatures reached almost 30 degrees in some parts of the country. What are these weather patterns saying about our current climate here?

“This is something we have been observing for two or three decades now, so it’s surprising by the standards of the month, but scientists and climatologists are not surprised that we are getting new record temperatures. This weekend we actually had the first tropical day of the year, which has never happened before this early in the spring. Every year, we are getting new record temperatures, and this pattern is directly tied to climate change.”

Is this a trend where we suddenly have different seasons appearing sporadically throughout the year? Will seasons begin to amalgamate with one another?

“In short, yes. These mid seasons like spring and autumn will become shorter and shorter. We’ve only had spring for two or three weeks and we’re starting to have early summer. So it’s a pattern that’s going to be observed more often.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt