In a previous lesson, we discussed rain-related vocabulary and how rain affects our day-to-day lives. This time, we will continue exploring the theme of bad weather and discuss extreme weather due to climate change.
There is a consensus among scientists that le réchauffement climatique (global warming) is becoming an alarming problem that has a complex effect on the planet:
On a vraiment de multiples facettes du réchauffement climatique.
We really have multiple facets of global warming.
Caption 90, Le Monde Incendies : peut-on empêcher les feux de forêt ? - Part 2
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Such climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures, but also a general disruption of weather patterns, un dérèglement climatique (climate disturbance), which is becoming more prevalent in some parts of France:
On vient rajouter là-dessus ce dérèglement climatique.
On top of this we add this climate disturbance.
Caption 87, Le Monde Incendies : peut-on empêcher les feux de forêt ? - Part 2
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This climate disruption manifests itself in more frequent extreme weather like tornades (tornadoes) and ouragans (hurricanes):
Multiplication des tornades et ouragans !
Multiplication of tornadoes and hurricanes!
Caption 23, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 5
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Along with tornades et ouragans often come pluies torrentielles (torrential rains):
La Seine sort de son lit à la suite de pluies torrentielles.
The River Seine burst its banks following torrential rains.
Recently France has been faced with des crues records (record floods). The term crue usually refers to an overflowing river or any body of water. In the following video, Lionel discusses the flooding of the Parisian region:
Cet indicateur, lors des crues records de dix-neuf cent dix
This indicator, during the record floods of nineteen hundred ten
Caption 7, Lionel L La Seine sort de son lit
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You may also come across a more generic term for “flood,” une inondation, which describes any type of flooding (for example a flooding house):
...une jeune loutre abandonnée par sa mère après des inondations.
...a young otter abandoned by its mother after flooding.
Caption 4, Le Monde Sauver les animaux sauvages ? C'est la mission de cette clinique - Part 2
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The verbal form of the noun inondation is inonder (to flood or inundate). As mentioned earlier, the Seine River burst its banks, which became inondées (flooded):
Les voies sur berges que vous pouvez voir derrière moi sont inondées.
The roads on the riverbanks that you can see behind me are flooded.
Caption 15, Lionel L La Seine sort de son lit
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Such floods may pose a danger to the population, which is then mise sous alerte (placed under alert):
Une ville de plus de quarante-cinq mille habitants a été mise sous alerte.
A town of more than forty-five thousand inhabitants has been placed under alert.
Caption 20, Lionel L La Seine sort de son lit
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People in southern regions of France were also on high alert, as they had to contend with other extreme weather conditions: des orages de grêle (hailstorms), des feux de forêt (forest fires), and des feux de champs (field fires):
L'année dernière, on a eu en plein été à traiter des orages de grêle, et quelques semaines après des feux de forêt, des feux de champs.
Last year, in the middle of summer, we had to deal with hailstorms, and a few weeks later forest fires, field fires.
Captions 88-89, Le Monde Incendies : peut-on empêcher les feux de forêt ? - Part 2
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While some parts of the planet have too much rain, others are experiencing a distinct lack of rainfall, which results in la désertification:
Désertification de régions entières !
Desertification of entire regions!
Caption 25, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 5
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When the vegetation dries up, we have what we call la sécheresse de la végétation (vegetation dryness):
Elle intègre la pluie, l'humidité de l'air, la température, le vent et la sécheresse de la végétation.
It integrates rain, air humidity, temperature, wind, and vegetation dryness.
Captions 29-30, Le Monde Incendies : peut-on empêcher les feux de forêt ? - Part 2
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The same word sécheresse can also mean “drought”:
La sécheresse est un problème mondial.
Droughts are a global problem.
Unfortunately, la sécheresse (drought) often leads to feux de forêt (forest fires) or incendies (fires). While both un feu and un incendie are somewhat interchangeable, feu is the more generic term, referring to any type of fire. When talking about a major fire, any fire that needs extinguishing, you might prefer to use the term incendie. In this video, we learn that les risques d’incendies (fire risks) are becoming more frequent in France:
Entre mille neuf cent soixante-seize et deux mille cinq, seule une petite partie de l'Hexagone connaissait un risque incendie élevé plus de quatre jours par an.
Between nineteen seventy-six and two thousand five, only a small part of the Hexagon [France] experienced a high fire risk for more than four days a year.
Captions 10-12, Le Monde Incendies : peut-on empêcher les feux de forêt ? - Part 1
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Let’s recap some of the vocabulary from this lesson:
le réchauffement climatique: global warming
le dérèglement climatique: climate disturbance
une tornade: a tornado
un ouragan: a hurricane
une pluie torrentielle: torrential rain
une crue: a flood, flooding
une inondation: a flood, flooding
inonder: to flood
mettre sous alerte: to place under alert
un orage de grêle: a hailstorm
un feu de forêt: a forest fire
la désertification: desertification
la sécheresse: drought, dryness
un incendie: a (major) fire
Wishing you a safe summer with very clement weather. Thank you for reading!
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