Is climate change to blame for Germany’s flooding?

Greta Thunberg has declared the floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to be the product of man-made climate change, adding ‘We’re at the very beginning of a climate and ecological emergency, and extreme weather events will only become more and more frequent.’

Well, that’s sorted out that one, then. We hardly need Angela Merkel or the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, to confirm it for us. Nor, indeed, do we need to hear from Michael Mann – aka Mr Hockey Stick – to tell us that the floods are the living embodiment of what climate scientists have been warning us about for decades. It was climate change wot flooded Germany and that is that – there is no reason for any further debate on the issue; indeed, even to suggest that there is a debate to be had is to mark yourself out as an evil ‘denialist’, intent on blinding yourself to deadly reality, and probably in the pay of on an oil company.