Heat kills – climate change kills even more
Why is the federal government remaining silent on the heatwave in Central Europe?
When there’s flooding or a politically motivated attack, you immediately see top politicians making statements on every channel – so why not when it comes to climate change? Why is the federal government remaining silent even in the face of thousands of heat-related deaths? Markus Söder recommends: “Head to the swimming pool when it’s hot!” That might be helpful in individual cases, but it’s not a policy.
“Nobody sees the heat-related deaths,” writes Tagesschau.de: “The elderly who die from cancer-related complications are drying up because their sense of thirst fades and only the heat remains, and the neighbour doesn’t ring the doorbell. Perhaps the victims of the heatwave should be laid out in front of town halls and state chancelleries to make it clear: This is not about ‘wild climate hysteria in the mainstream media’. No, that really isn’t what this is about. This is actually about the very survival of humanity. That is the current state of scientific knowledge. That is climate physics.
Why do those in power – and indeed many media outlets – find it so difficult to provide objective information about the greatest crisis of our time? Why is the political establishment remaining so tellingly silent during these fateful days?
Heat kills – and climate change kills even more
For climate scientists agree that, were it not for creeping climate change, it would now be several degrees cooler in Central Europe. What we are currently witnessing is not merely a question of empathy; it is a brutal failure on the part of politicians and the media.
From the Chancellor, through his Minister for Economic Affairs, Katherina Reiche, to the Minister for the Environment, Carsten Schneider. During these days of heat, they are all avoiding the key term ‘climate protection’ like the devil avoids holy water. This is precisely where this federal government’s biggest problem lies. It is precisely because of this cowardice that fewer and fewer people trust those in power. This is exactly why this federal government has the lowest approval ratings of all time: This federal government is putting the brakes on the solar energy transition.
The CDU Economic Council has even just recommended, yet again, that the climate protection targets be postponed. In the middle of the heatwave. And the Merz government is still demanding that the EU push back its ban on combustion engines scheduled for 2035.
The current heatwave is costing the German economy billions and claiming the lives of thousands of people, including here in Germany. This government’s silence on the matter will come back to haunt it, because the next heatwave is bound to come. The question of humanity’s survival cannot be resolved through silence and denial.
