The heat wave that has been scorching Europe for weeks created the perfect environment for climate disinformation actors to spread false and misleading claims on the matter.
The extreme temperatures are causing widespread wildfires and appear to be connected to a rising death toll across Europe. According to the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus more than 1,300 excess deaths had been recorded between 21 and 28 June “linked to high temperatures in Europe”.
Videos shared out of context, resurfacing old narratives, and misinterpreted laws are only a few of the tools used to spread false claims around heat waves, reinforcing the trend that sees a new surge of climate disinformation following extreme weather events and natural disasters.
A video went viral on social media claiming to show a deformed traffic light in Verona, Italy, melting during a heat wave. The caption read, “In Verona it’s so hot that traffic lights melt.”
Starting on June 24, the video was shared on multiple platforms, garnering hundreds of thousands of views. The video was initially shared (archived here) by Italian social media users, but it quickly spread in other languages, including in Albanian (archived here), Turkish (archived here), and German (archived here). Some of the social media users claimed (archived here) the video was shot during the heat wave in Germany.
The video was shared out of context and conveys a false...
[Sportschosun Jang Jong-ho] A total of 34.789 billion won in false National Health Insurance claims was detected at 839 health care institutions over the past four years (2022-2025). According to d...