Dublin, October 18 (RHC)-- In Ireland, at least three people are dead and hundreds of thousands of homes remain without electricity, after the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia swept across the island as a post-tropical storm.  Ireland’s prime minister called it the most powerful storm in over half a century. 

Meanwhile, on the Iberian Peninsula, at least 40 people are dead in Portugal and northern Spain, as wildfires raged through bone-dry forests and farmlands. Firefighters say dozens of the 145 fires raging in both countries remain dangerous and uncontrolled.  In London, the combination of smoke from the Spanish fires and moisture from Ophelia turned the sun red and the sky a deep yellow, in what residents called one of the most ominous weather developments in years. 

The extreme weather events came as Pope Francis warned of the dangers of climate change, taking a swipe at the Trump administration for withdrawing from the Paris climate accord. The pope was speaking at a United Nations event in Rome.  

Pope Francis said: “Thanks to scientific knowledge, we know how to confront these problems, and the international community has also worked out the legal methods, such as the Paris accord, which, sadly, some have abandoned.  However, we are seeing negligence toward the delicate equilibrium of the ecosystems, the presumption of manipulating and controlling the limited resources of the planet for greed, for profit.”