This year’s summer of climate extremes hits wealthier places

UNDATED (AP)- Scientists say there’s something different this year as the world staggers through another summer of extreme weather. A lot of the regions that have experienced weather-related disasters this year are places that previously were spared global warming’s wrath. The extreme events include unprecedented flooding in Germany and Belgium, and blistering temperatures in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Now, southern Europe is seeing scorching temperatures and out-of-control blazes, too. And the peak Atlantic hurricane and wildfire seasons in the U.S. are knocking at the door. The founder of a disaster database maintained at a Belgian University says, “It is not only a poor country problem, it’s now very obviously a rich county problem.”