Fact Check: Rainy July in Austria Does Not Disprove Global Warming

July 2025 will be recorded in Austria as unusually wet and rather cool. Even for the first days of August, temperatures below the long-term average are forecasted. For some people, this is enough proof: The climate crisis is fabricated and exaggerated by the media. In doing so, the view abroad and on the global climate is often ignored. Even in Austria, long-term data speaks clearly.

Fact Check on Climate Change in Austria

Assessment: Individual periods like a wet July with subdued temperatures cannot obscure what has been scientific consensus for many years: The climate is changing worldwide - and thus also in Austria - primarily due to human activity.

Verification: Currently, numerous false claims about the climate are circulating again. Compilations of various newspaper clippings aim to deny climate changes. For instance, there are reports of temperatures beyond the 50-degree mark in the 1950s, while the highest values in 1975 are said to have only been over 40 degrees. In a recent interview, however, 35 degrees Celsius and more are described as previously unknown values.

Misinterpretation of Real Headlines

The headlines from the 50s and 70s are indeed real. However, they have been taken out of context to serve as evidence for a false conclusion. In the 1957 article, the "Bild" newspaper reported on the temperature inside a train station clock, which stopped working due to the heat. This excerpt has been circulating on the internet for years.

In 1975, no 40 degrees Celsius were measured in Germany. The headline was derived from a forecast by the Essen Weather Office, which did not materialize. This mark was only reached in the North Rhine-Westphalian city in 2019. Only the headline from the "Kronen Zeitung" from the summer of 2022 ("Temperatures around 35 degrees, that didn't happen before") uses temperatures from measuring stations.

The quote comes from an interview about heatwaves and other weather extremes, but does not support the claim made in the post. In fact, long-term measurement data proves the opposite. In recent decades, summers in Austria have become nearly three degrees warmer according to GeoSphere climatologist Alexander Orlik, and the number of hot days has increased significantly.

Human-Caused Climate Change According to Scientists Cannot Be Denied

A recurring element of misinformation is the denial of climate change in general - or at least that it is human-caused (8). Recently, a Russian broadcaster's claim that climate change occurs independently of humans spread again via social media. However, the human contribution to climate change has been scientifically proven many times, as can be read in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or the second Austrian assessment report on climate change.

The assessment report (2025) states in the introduction: "The impacts of climate change are clearly noticeable in Austria. The recent increase in extreme events such as longer dry periods, heatwaves, and floods align with the global trends caused by climate change." The claim that there is no climate change in Austria is "simply false," as Harald Rieder, climate researcher at BOKU Vienna and head of the Climate and Climate Impact Research Network CCCA, noted to the APA.

This July in Austria Was Rainy but Averagely Warm

This July was indeed one of the wettest on record according to GeoSphere Austria, which makes it seem less summery to many people. Nevertheless, according to Orlik, "in terms of temperature, it corresponds quite closely to an average July of the last 30 years and will probably be 1.5 degrees warmer in the final balance than an average July in the period from 1961 to 1990."

It is in the nature of weather "that some months are warmer and some are cooler." For trends, researchers therefore do not look at individual months, but at the long-term development of the climate. Moreover, even a look at the rest of Europe suffices for the weather: there was no sign of a rainy and cold July in Southern Europe.

(APA)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.