Unprecedented Global Heatwaves: Record-Breaking Temperatures Across the World due to Global Warming

A record weekend, a sign if any more were needed that global warming is already striking. Unprecedented temperatures are expected this weekend in the world, from Europe to China via the United States, forcing the authorities to take drastic measures to deal with these heat waves.

In Italy, the thermometer flies away. The Ministry of Health issued a red alert notice on Friday, valid all weekend, for several central cities, from Rome to Bologna, from Florence to Pescara, where temperatures are expected to reach 36/37°C from Sunday (39°C felt), before the peak expected at the start of the week.

In Rome, temperatures could rise to 40°C on Monday, then 42 or 43°C on Tuesday, shattering the previous record of 40.5°C recorded in the capital in August 2007. The north of the peninsula should not be spared with 38°C expected Tuesday in Milan.

“The Mediterranean basin and central and southern Italy are covered in a blanket of very hot air. Unfortunately, this is nothing new: the current climate change is making this type of situation much more frequent and much more intense compared to the past, including recent ones”, estimates Claudio Cassardo, meteorologist and professor at the University of Turin, quoted by the daily Il Messaggero on Friday.

Greece is suffocating

Spain, eastern France, Germany and Poland are also facing a large heat wave. In the Mediterranean again, Greece is also suffering from a heat wave which forced local authorities on Friday to close the Acropolis of Athens during the hottest hours, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

This closure of the ancient site classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most visited in Greece must be renewed this Saturday “for the protection of workers” and “visitors”, explained the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni. While temperatures of 40°C to 41°C are expected in Athens, “the true temperature felt […] by the body is considerably higher” at the top of the Acropolis, according to the minister.

Visitors have been victims of discomfort in recent days, especially at the top of the site where they came to admire the Parthenon. The Red Cross deployed on Thursday at the foot of the Acropolis to distribute “daily at least 30,000 50 cl bottles of water” and come to the aid of tourists who could be victims of sunstroke or fainting.

Asia, Africa and America also overheated

North Africa is also affected. In Morocco, which has been experiencing a series of heat waves since the beginning of the summer, a heat wave red alert has been issued for several provinces. Some regions of China, including the capital Beijing, are also suffering from a strong heat wave. Parts of eastern Japan are also expected to reach 38-39C on Sunday and Monday, according to the local forecaster.

On the other side of the globe, the southern United States is roasting under a heat wave: tens of millions of Americans from California to Texas experienced dangerously high temperatures on Friday, which are expected to peak during the weekend. Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, recorded its 15th straight day above 43 degrees on Friday, according to the US Weather Services (NWS).

In the Californian desert of Death Valley, American firefighters were fighting very violent fires on Friday. For climatologist Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles, the mercury there could equal or even exceed the highest air temperature ever reliably measured on Earth, or 54.4°C recorded at the same place in 2020 and 2021, according to several experts.

The hottest June in history

Globally, June was the hottest month ever measured, according to the European Copernicus and American NASA and NOAA agencies. Then, the first full week of July was in turn the hottest on record, according to preliminary data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Heat is one of the deadliest weather events, the WMO said. Last summer in Europe alone, high temperatures caused more than 60,000 deaths, according to a recent study.

In addition to health problems, this heat wave also raises fears of repeated fires. Thus, the Greek authorities have warned of the high risk of fire, especially in regions where strong winds are expected to blow. Greece had suffered violent forest fires during the summer of 2021 due to an exceptional heat wave.

In North America, the summer has already been marked by a series of weather disasters. Smoke from fires in Canada, where more than 500 fires are out of control, led to several episodes of heavy air pollution in the northeastern United States in June.

Catastrophic flooding also affected the US state of Vermont (northeast) this week. Scientists reminded that global warming can contribute to more frequent and heavier rains, by increasing water vapor in the atmosphere.

2023-07-15 09:08:00


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