Is climate change to blame for catastrophic flooding in Central Europe?

Central Europe suffered its worst flooding in at least two decades as heavy rain from Storm Boris left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland, reports Euronews.

The death toll rose to at least 21 in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Austria on Tuesday, with many more missing. Tens of thousands of people were also evacuated in central Europe, including 15 on the Czech border with Poland.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donal Tusk declared a state of natural disaster in the worst-hit southern regions of the country.

The country's defense ministry said 14 troops had been sent to flood-affected regions. People in the city of Wrocław are fortifying river banks as water levels are expected to peak today, September 000.

Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia are also on heightened alert as forecasted heavy rains threaten to further raise water levels in the Danube River.

Now, with more heavy rain expected in Italy in the coming days, the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lazio are on a yellow warning code. Firefighters in the town of Pescara, Abruzzo, say they have already received hundreds of calls for help due to flooding.

Is climate change to blame for catastrophic flooding in Central Europe?

Poland's deputy climate minister, Urszula Sara Zelinski, blamed climate change for the disaster.

She told the BBC that after the extreme floods of 1997, it was said that disasters of this scale would only happen "once in a thousand years". Now they are happening only 26 years later.

"There is a clear reason for this and it is called climate change," she said.

The flooding followed heavy rain and snow brought by Storm Boris over the weekend. It is too early for a scientific analysis showing what role climate change plays in this extreme weather event.

However, climate scientists have warned that extreme rainfall events like this will increase in Europe as the planet warms. For every 1 degree of warming, experts say the atmosphere can hold 7% more water vapor.

A marine heatwave in the Mediterranean is also likely to have played a role after record seawater temperatures were reached last month.

High sea surface temperatures lead to increased evaporation and therefore more moisture in the air. This warm, moist air met very cold air from the Arctic, creating the perfect conditions for Storm Boris to deliver heavy rainfall.

According to experts from the World Weather Attribution group, this July's Mediterranean heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused global warming.

Extreme weather is fast becoming the norm for Europe

The EU has warned that devastating floods in central Europe and deadly fires in Portugal are evidence of "climate collapse" which will become the norm without urgent action.

Crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic told lawmakers in Strasbourg on Wednesday that Europe cannot "return to the safer past".

"Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our common future,” he said.

Lenarik also warned that countries are struggling to cope with the rising costs of disasters like this, with damages in Europe in 2021 and 2022 expected to exceed €50 billion a year on average.

"The cost of inaction is much higher than the cost of action," he said.

Nikolo Voevoda, European regional director at the international environmental organization 350.org, said it was another "devastating wake-up call" for world leaders:

"We have seen ordinary people pay with their lives as decision-makers delay and obstruct climate action. How many more deadly disasters do they need to see before they take the necessary concrete steps to define policy and implement measures that end the suffering we are witnessing today?''