Expecting 50°C in the near future? The answer could be yes

Although the temperatures are expected to be a little more acceptable in the upcoming days, the predictions for the next decades could be quite scary. You might have been close to dying because of the heat the last two weeks, but the thermometer is likely to keep rising.

The temperatures might reach a record of 50 or 55 degrees as early as the 2050’s.

The current Belgian highest temperature recorded was reached 38,2°C in Zelzate on July 27th, which seems quite nothing compared to those forecasts.

That’s what Jean Jouzel, a French climatologist, explained to L’Écho at the beginning of last week. He suggested that if there is no action in terms of fight against global warming, the climatic event we have experienced over the last days will definitely be repeated in a harder way.

“In the future, we should expect the temperatures to keep on growing and hit values we have never known in Belgium, unfortunately,” Hugues Goosse, professor of climatology at the UCL, told RTBF last Friday.

And even if the recent temperatures are not individually and directly linked to global warming, there’s a higher probability that it will happen again in the future because of global warming, the professor added.

The public authorities therefore should implement efforts to try to limit climate change across the World. As a quick reminder, 7% of the Belgians do not believe in climate change or global warming, while 85% think it is an urgent issue.

Some still not convinced yet? Significant political action and efforts are therefore needed to make the collective conscious more receptive and thus have a future that is liveable.