EUROPE'S - NETWORKS BUCKLE - EUREKA * : CLIMATE CONTEXT

NETWORKS buckle in Europe's heat wave. This sheltering summer, the sign of a breakdown have been everywhere.

Train networks across Western Europe were snarled by heat that threatened to buckle tracks. Several nuclear reactors in France shuttered or slowed because the cooling water they were discharging into rivers was getting too hot.

Museums curtailed hours, because they couldn't control the heat. Electricity outages knocked out power for hundreds of thousands in France and Italy.

'' Everyone is asking why are we not ready ? '' said Francois Gemmenne, a professor and specialist in Environmental politics at HEC Paris, a business school.

'' We are becoming aware of our own vulnerability.''

The heat waves have hastened a realization that Europe isn't prepared for what is coming as heat waves intensify because of rising greenhouse gas emissions.

The world's fastest warming continent is filled with buildings and infrastructure designed for a climate that no longer exists.

Europe has been warming at the rate of 1 degree Fahrenheit [ more than half a degree Celsius ] per decade - meaning infrastructure is facing stresses that would have been unthinkable when built.

Train tracks are at particular risk, because heat can make them expand and buckle. This led to cancellations in Germany, Switzerland and Britain. Other routes were cancelled because trains lacked air-conditioning.

!WOW! thanks Chico Harlan.