By Joanne Naish
Many Cantabrians forced to flee their homes amid a deluge of rain all said the same thing: they had never seen rivers rise this high, or this fast before.
With the world facing inevitable climate change, scientists say heat waves, droughts, storms, wildfires, and warming oceans will get progressively worse.
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Canterbury’s extreme rain event this week led to a regional state of emergency and hundreds of evacuations, including the entire town of Springfield. Ten state highways and 52 schools were closed at the storm’s peak. Farmers fled for their lives, with some describing heart breaking scenes of lost stock and a “wall of water” that caused significant damage to their properties.
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The good news is that if we cut emissions now, the predicted increase in severe weather events will not happen.