This summer, as climate change starts to affect the planet, much of Europe has experienced bizarre weather.
Climate change affects all regions around the world. Polar ice shields are melting and the sea is rising. In some regions, extreme weather events and rainfall are becoming more common while others are experiencing more extreme heat waves and droughts.
Now, Huge hailstones the size of tennis balls pelted the Girona region of Catalonia, Spain, during a 10-minute storm, causing damage to roofs, windows, and electricity lines, but what is horrifying about this giant orange-sized chunk of ice has resulted in a tragic death of a one-year-old girl. The baby girl was with her parents when she was hit by the four-inch wide ball of ice in the Spanish town of La Bisbal d’Emporda on Tuesday.
She was rushed to hospital but sadly passed away on Wednesday morning as a result of severe head trauma.
As the country faces its latest bout of extreme weather, the toddler who died was one of the sixty-seven people who suffered injuries during the hailstorm. Many of them suffered broken bones or cuts from the falling ice, with one woman remaining in hospital.
According to reports, the current storm has also seriously damaged automobiles and property, breaking solar panels and roof tiles.
The hail, which started at around 7:30 pm on Tuesday, was the biggest in 20 years, the Catalan weather officials said. In the reports, the young girl was sitting in her stroller when she was struck by a hailstone. Her mother also sustained injuries in the hailstorm, but she is anticipated to fully recover. Soon after, the young girl was struck, and the hail stopped after about 15 minutes.
Heavy storms have been predicted for eastern Spain, as parts of Spain have experienced a severe drought, and the hot summer has meant the nearby Mediterranean Sea is warmer than usual for this time of year; making violent tropical storms more likely.
In far-west New South Wales, 400 kangaroos and 150 goats were also killed during the Hail storm, leaving a trail of death and destruction for two grazier families. Near Broken Hill, up to 400 kangaroos were discovered dead, leaving the neighboring property with more than $20,000 worth of dead stock to clean up.
Tegan Langford recalled how her first feelings of excitement and elation over the much-needed rain eventually turned into utter disbelief.
“It was very eerie down there. It looked like something out of a movie where they say the world is going to end. Everything was just dead.” Tegan said.
Tegan and her husband David own Ktank Station, 30 kilometers east of Broken Hill.
The Langfords were eagerly anticipating the rain that slammed the area a week earlier, as were many grazing families in the Far West.
They were unaware that the rain was accompanied by a hailstorm that claimed the lives of more than 400 kangaroos and 150 goats.
“We received 18mm of rain at the house, which we were over the moon about, but it wasn’t until a couple of days later that we realised how bad the damage was,” she said.
“We were out mustering a paddock that was next door to our goat paddock when we started to see dead roos and goats for no reason.
A lot of people have turned to social media to post pictures and videos of the huge ice chunks that dropped from the sky with one man is seen catching a large hailstone in a pail, following the bizarre hailstorm.
