Belgium faces a future of warmer temperatures and more extreme events, according to climate projections. No stranger to flooding, it’s also grappling with an increased risk of drought. Climate Now reports from a region of Belgium that’s already felt some of the impacts.
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00:00Climate Now, in collaboration with Copernicus.
00:10Hello and welcome to Climate Now, coming to you this month from Belgium.
00:15We're here to find out how the country is preparing for a possible future of double trouble,
00:21flooding and drought.
00:23Will a master plan be enough to avoid a repeat of this kind of devastation?
00:29We have the obligation to ensure that any kind of intervention is good for both droughts and floodings,
00:36otherwise it will not work.
00:42That's our story, coming up.
00:44But first, let's get the very latest data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
00:51The planet as a whole just experienced its warmest June on record,
00:55with temperatures 0.7 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average.
01:02Turkey faced heatwave conditions, Greece recorded its warmest June on record
01:07and Cyprus issued a red alert warning for heat.
01:11In Western Europe the month was cooler and many saw temperatures below average for the time of year.
01:17June was wetter than average in the regions coloured in blue on this map.
01:22Heavy rain led to flooding and landslides in Switzerland, southern Germany, parts of France and northern Italy.
01:29Meanwhile on the other side of the planet, Antarctic sea ice extent was 12% below average,
01:36its second lowest level on record for June.
01:42And so now to our report on how Belgium's facing up to a double climate challenge.
01:49When Belgium was hit by floods in July 2021, following record rainfall, they were devastating and deadly.
01:58Here in Pepinsterre, a village at the confluence of two rivers, the Brasser family's home was engulfed.
02:08This is the same street today. Their property and others have been demolished.
02:18Five to six metres of water ended up in the street and it was incomprehensible.
02:24We were very, very scared. We didn't know what was going to happen to us.
02:27We really thought we were going to die.
02:29I can see that there is a lot of climate change at the moment and the floods are proof of that.
02:37A post-flood climate adaptation plan for the Vesdra Valley, including Pepinsterre, recommends reducing riverside buildings.
02:46Like here, replacing pines in the surrounding hills with leaf trees, which absorb more water.
02:53And framing agricultural lands with green areas, which has a dual benefit.
02:59If you have more green areas along the fields, it will be good for roads also,
03:05because basically you modify the ground and you leave space for storing water along these edges
03:14and this water will progressively infiltrate the ground.
03:20Further along the valley, in Erpen, nature-based solutions are being deployed to not only help rainwater seep away, but also for cooling.
03:29This former riverside square is becoming a park, packed with trees, shrubs and flower meadows.
03:36But what difference does this kind of green area actually make?
03:42The damages when flooding is lower, and as regards with drought, basically it's retaining water where it is
03:49and it contributes to lowering the temperature within cities, both surface and air temperature, which is good for inhabitants.
03:59Climate projections for Belgium to the year 2100 show temperatures could rise by up to 3.5 degrees Celsius,
04:07with over 50 heatwave days per year.
04:11As we look now at the scenarios, even in the most optimistic scenario, we will have to do a lot of adaptation,
04:16which means to prepare for the climate change that will happen anyway,
04:19and for that we need to know what's going to happen, where it's going to happen,
04:22we need to be more sure what is the local context, what's the geographic context.
04:28Back in Pepinsterre, despite the flooding, villagers want to remain.
04:34This is my village and it's the village of my childhood. I'm not going to move from here for the cause. I'll stay here.
04:41That's it for this edition, but do head over to euronews.com slash climate now
04:47to learn more about how our planet is changing. Bye for now.
04:54Climate Now, in collaboration with Copernicus.