Pope Francis on Sunday said that the world was experiencing extreme climatic events, where, on the one hand, some regions were badly affected by abnormal heat waves and devastating fires, and on the other, many places were severely impacted by torrential rains and flash floods.
He said such natural calamities were an indication to point out the urgent need for world leaders to make conscious efforts to tackle climate change.
“We are experiencing, here and in many countries, extreme climatic events: on the one hand, various regions are affected by abnormal heat waves and devastating fires; on the other, in many places, there are cloudbursts and floods, such as those that have scourged South Korea in recent days: I am close to those who are suffering and to those who are assisting the victims and the displaced,” he said.
“Please, I renew my appeal to world leaders to do something more concrete to limit polluting emissions,” the Pope said at the end of his Angelus message to crowds in St. Peter’s Square.
“It is an urgent challenge, it cannot be postponed, and it concerns everyone. Let us protect our common home,” the pope added.
He then called on the world to speedily ditch fossil fuels and also made the protection of the environment a basis of his pontificate. He noted in his landmark 2015 “Laudato Si” (Praised Be) encyclical that the planet was “beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth”.
The pope in his address also expressed solidarity with the ones severely affected by the climate crisis and the ones lending a helping hand to them.
Heatwave to expand in southern US
A record-breaking heatwave stretching across the southern United States was expected to expand in the coming days. The National Weather Service (NWS) said that across Southern US, about 80 million Americans will swelter in temperatures of 41 degrees Celsius and above this weekend. Phoenix, Arizona would be the worst affected.
Phoenix is surrounded by desert, and its 1.6 million residents are accustomed to brutal summer temperatures. However, this time, the heat wave is unprecedented in its length: it has already helped the city break its previous record of 18 straight days at or above 43 degrees Celsius.
More than 2,000 people, including tourists, were evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes as wildfires have been raging out of control for five days, reported the officials in Greece, on Saturday (July 22).
Firefighters, using reinforcements from Slovakia, have been working to put out the blaze which has burned for a fifth day, fanned by strong winds.
At least 1,500 of those evacuated from areas of Kiotari and Lardos, in the southeastern part of the popular Mediterranean island, were taken to a safe beach, said the coastguard. Furthermore, those evacuated are being housed at an indoor stadium and at hotels on the island, said Konstantinos Taraslias, a deputy mayor of Rhodes.
(With inputs from agencies)
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