Jakub Wiech, editor-in-chief of Energetyka24, is a frequent commentator on energy policy and the climate crisis. On 15 September, he published a new video on his Elektryfikacja YouTube channel, where he discussed how human-induced climate change is driving extreme weather events, such as the heavy rains that recently caused flooding in southern Poland.

Wiech explained that global warming, characterised by rising average temperatures, results in more energy within the atmosphere. This increased energy destabilises natural weather systems, including phenomena like the Genoa low, which typically moves from Italy over southwestern Poland, bringing significant rainfall. He pointed out that the shifts in Earth’s living conditions throughout history have occurred at a much slower pace compared to the current warming driven by the global economy.

According to Wiech, record-breaking sea and ocean temperatures are leading to accelerated evaporation, causing unusually intense rainfall. Meanwhile, the land—dried out by prolonged, extreme heat and increasingly stripped of trees and vegetation—is unable to absorb the excess water. In southern Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria, as much rain fell in 12 hours as would typically fall in two months.

The journalist emphasised that the current climate crisis and its effects should not come as a surprise. He pointed out that the greenhouse properties of CO2 have been understood since the 19th century. Over the past 200 years, human activity has increased the concentration of this gas in the atmosphere by 50%. Such a change could not occur without destabilising the climate—a reality scientists have been warning about for decades.

Wiech described the public debate in Poland on the climate crisis as "pathological." He criticised the "utterly stupid" remarks made by some journalists and politicians on social media, mocking the situation with statements like, "The planet was supposed to burn, and instead we have floods." Among those he mentioned were Sławomir Jastrzębowski and Łukasz Warzecha. Wiech stressed the damaging nature of such rhetoric, arguing that it dulls public awareness at a time when citizens should be pressuring politicians to take action and safeguard Poland from the impacts of climate change.