Check Us

The story, and the record.

“I have kept everything, including the versions that were wrong, so that you can see we did not select. Check us.”

Everything invented in this story stands on things that happened. Here is the standing.

In the story	In the record
Flood water in the Vesdre and Ahr valleys, July 2021.	More than 200 people died across Germany and Belgium. An attribution study found that human-caused warming increased the likelihood and intensity of the rainfall. Kreisverwaltung Ahrweiler World Weather Attribution
Pakistan under the 2022 monsoon.	Flooding submerged roughly a third of the country and affected 33 million people. A rapid attribution study found that climate change likely increased the intense rainfall. United Nations WMO
Australia’s Black Summer, smoke above the Pacific, evacuation from Mallacoota.	Smoke from the 2019–20 fires circled the globe, while HMAS Choules evacuated more than 1,300 residents, tourists and animals from Mallacoota by sea. NASA Australian Department of Defence
Canadian fire smoke over New York in June 2023.	Canada’s 2023 fire season burned 184,493 square kilometres, about 18.45 million hectares. Smoke from Quebec reached the northeastern United States and darkened New York’s sky. Environment and Climate Change Canada NASA Earth Observatory
The European heatwave of August 2003.	More than 70,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe. France subsequently established a national heatwave plan and warning system. European Environment Agency Santé publique France
Nights that no longer cool the city.	Copernicus records an increasing number of tropical nights in Europe since the 1980s. Warm nights limit recovery from daytime heat, especially in cities. Copernicus Climate Change Service
Forty degrees in the United Kingdom on 19 July 2022.	The Met Office verified a national record of 40.3 °C. Network Rail closed part of the East Coast Main Line as infrastructure faced temperatures beyond its design range. Met Office Network Rail
Low water on the Rhine and half-loaded barges.	Low water restricts vessel loads, raises transport costs and can force industrial production to slow or stop. Germany’s environment agency records 2018 as a severe example; low-water conditions returned in 2022. German Environment Agency Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine
Thailand’s 2011 floods reaching the world through hard-drive shortages.	Flooded Thai factories disrupted a globally concentrated supply chain. The World Bank recorded hard-drive price increases of 20 to 50 percent. World Bank
The North Sea flood of 1953 and the works that followed.	The flood killed 1,836 people in the Netherlands. The disaster led directly to the Delta Plan and Delta Works. Rijkswaterstaat
The Elbe’s hunger stones returning in drought.	Low-water inscriptions record earlier droughts. A peer-reviewed survey documents the warning “Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine” at Děčín. Climate of the Past
Ordinary high tides flooding Atlantic and Gulf Coast streets.	NOAA reports that high-tide flooding along United States coasts has risen sharply since 2000 and projects further increases as sea level rises. NOAA
Insurance retreating from exposed coastal markets.	United States Treasury analyses document rising premiums, increased non-renewals and insurers pulling back from high-risk markets including Florida. U.S. Treasury, 2025 U.S. Treasury, 2023
Old climate projections meeting the observed warming.	A published evaluation of models released between 1970 and 2007 found that most projected global temperature change consistent with subsequent observations. NASA GISS
Heat plans and registries turning warning into fewer deaths.	An evaluation of France’s 2006 heatwave found mortality far below the level predicted from the 2003 relationship, consistent with the effects of warning and prevention measures. Santé publique France WHO Europe

All named characters — the Lamberts, Marta, Dana Whitfield, Raymond Ortega, Eleni Vasiliou, Hendrik Claes, Ingrid Halvorsen, Abdul Karim — are inventions. The weather is not.