Slovenia was devastated by flooding in 2023 - how is it preparing for extreme rain in the future? - video Dailymotion

euronews (in English)

Slovenia is raising levees and levies in a nationwide effort to become resilient to heavy rainfall and flash flooding. Climate Now reports from the riverside on the works underway and offers insight on the latest Copernicus climate data.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:05 Hello, and welcome to Climate Now.

00:07 This month, we're here in Slovenia

00:09 to ask how they're adapting to the threat of heavy rain

00:13 after much of the country was hit by devastating floods

00:16 last year.

00:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:23 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:33 Before that, let's check the very latest data

00:35 on our warming planet from the Copernicus Climate Change

00:38 Service.

00:39 We can now confirm that 2023 was the warmest year on record.

00:44 This graph of annual averages since 1967

00:47 shows last year was almost 1.5 degrees Celsius

00:50 above the pre-industrial era.

00:52 The higher temperatures are being attributed

00:54 to several factors, mainly more greenhouse gas emissions,

00:57 warmer oceans, and lower sea ice concentrations.

01:01 Switching over to the monthly Copernicus data,

01:03 we can see it was the warmest December on record,

01:06 over 0.8 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average.

01:11 In Europe, it was colder than average,

01:13 from Scandinavia to Russia, and then unusually warm

01:16 from Ireland to the Black Sea.

01:18 December was wet for many of us, with a succession

01:21 of storms in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe.

01:24 This map of precipitation anomalies

01:26 reflects that, with the wetter blue areas indicating

01:29 above-average rain or snow last month.

01:32 Now to our report asking how Slovenia

01:35 is adapting to the rising risk of heavy rain and flooding.

01:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:43 Slovenia is in the middle of a major flash flood adaptation

01:47 effort.

01:48 There are 250 active sites like this across the country,

01:52 working to protect riverside homes and businesses.

01:55 The water agency director is Nizia Kodre.

01:57 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

02:13 Nearly everyone was hit by the floods last August.

02:17 183 of the 212 municipalities in Slovenia were impacted.

02:21 The country experienced 63% more rainfall

02:24 than average last summer.

02:26 Expert Tanja Cega warns that rising temperatures

02:29 due to climate change will simply

02:30 increase the flash flood risk.

02:33 We will get more heavy rain in the future,

02:37 especially these events during summer when air is warm

02:42 and there is a lot of moisture in the air.

02:47 Different approaches to flash flooding

02:48 are applied in different zones.

02:51 In this dense urban area of Ljubljana,

02:53 the best solution is a much higher embankment wall.

02:55 Downstream, there's enough room to dig a wider riverbed,

03:01 preserve the trees, and slow down the water.

03:04 Engineer Rok Vazarin says natural solutions cost less

03:07 and look better, but need constant upkeep.

03:12 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

03:28 To help pay for these works, the government

03:30 has raised taxes on banks and businesses

03:33 for the next five years.

03:34 Minister Boštjan Šefić justifies the choice.

03:39 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

04:07 The other challenge is convincing local people

04:09 to accept that flash flood adaptation has to happen.

04:13 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

04:34 Well, that's all we have time for,

04:35 but you can find out a lot more about how Slovenia is adapting

04:39 to climate change on euronews.com/climate now.

04:42 And I'll see you next time.

04:44 (upbeat music)

04:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Slovenia was devastated by flooding in 2023 - how is it preparing for extreme rain in the future?

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended