This scientist got stuck in France heat wave on her way home from UN climate talks

Transcript

The irony of being stuck in a record-breaking heat wave on the way home from a climate change conference is not lost on Anna Pérez Català.

The Spanish environmental scientist was returning home from UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, when her train was delayed for hours in the scorching Paris heat. 

France hit an all-time heat record Friday, recording 45.9 degrees C in Gallargues-le-Montueux, in the southern Provence region, weather forecaster Meteo France said, nearly two degrees above the previous high of 44.1 Celsius recorded in August 2003.

And it's not just France. Europe is in the middle of a continent-wide heat wave, and the World Meteorological Organization said 2019 was on track to be among the world's hottest years.

Once she was back on the air-conditioned train, Català spoke to As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner. Here is some of what she had to say.

What was it like, your day in Paris?

It was really hot.

The train I had to take had a problem so all the passengers were asked to go down and wait at the platform, and that was the worst part. It was like 2:00 p.m. when the heat was really strong.

And you're just standing there with nowhere to go.

Exactly. We couldn't move because we didn't know when the next train would come. And that took two hours and a half, and then we jumped into the next one. They finally found one.

With the one I'm in, the engine is getting too hot. So we had to stop again for it to be checked. And now we are in a reduced speed because, if not, it will heat too much.

So I'd say this is really intense.

And in one of those interesting twists of timing, this happens to you, you get stuck in this extreme heat, while returning from a climate change conference in Bonn. How were you processing that? What were you thinking about climate change and the conference and then standing on that platform in that extreme heat?

I was in the global negotiations where countries try to come out with climate plans to fight climate change.

And I was a bit disappointed with the conference. I was like, oh, we could have done much more, you know. We are not being ambitious enough.

And then this heat wave hits and you're like, whoa, I was right.

So I really felt like my feelings before and the heat wave were really well-aligned.

At this point, can you clearly connect this heat wave with climate change?

When it comes to attribution, the science doesn't work like this. So you can say, yes, heat waves are more frequent and stronger and longer than before. The science attribution works later. So in a year, we may be able to analyze the data from today and be like, yes, that was definitely ... climate change.

So, scientifically, you can't say yes. But what does your gut tell you and what does your experience tell you?

My experience tells me it is because we have never seen a heat wave like this and the last one we had was directly related to climate change.

But there are still those who do not accept the dire warnings about climate change, including prominent world leaders. What do you think it will take to convince these people that climate change is real and is a threat?

Maybe when their houses are flooded or, like, we are in chaos at some point, they will accept it. But for now, I just think they will just stand strong in their point and just deny the science.

What about the average people? The people like you, who were standing on that platform and trying to find some relief. What do you think they're thinking? How do you think this impacts them, this kind of heat wave?

I feel sometimes for people it's difficult to make the connection. So people understand that climate change is real and that it's a thing.

But I'm not sure people are able to say, well, if it's that hot today, that may be climate change.

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Reuters. Produced by Chris Harbord. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.