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WASHINGTON: Summer is just beginning in the Northern Hemisphere, but a brutal heatwave is already gripping parts of Europe, China and the United States, with record temperatures expected this weekend being a stark example of the dangers of a warming climate.
Severe temperature warnings have been issued for more than 100 million Americans with the National Weather Service predicting particularly dangerous conditions in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.
Many European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland, also bake at extreme temperatures.
Greece said its biggest tourist attraction, the Acropolis, will close during the hottest hours on Friday as temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Athens.
The European Space Agency said the mercury could rise to 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 Fahrenheit) in Sicily and Sardinia – “potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.
North Africa was also very hot and the Moroccan Meteorological Service issued a severe heat warning for the southern parts of the country.
Some regions in China, including the capital, Beijing, are experiencing extremely hot temperatures, and a major Chinese power company said one-day electricity generation hit a record high on Monday.
Parts of eastern Japan are also expected to reach 38 to 39 degrees Celsius (100.4 to 102.2 Fahrenheit) on Sunday and Monday, with the Japan Meteorological Agency warning that temperatures could reach previous records.
Last month was indeed the hottest on record, according to the US space agency NASA and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), warns that extreme weather caused by a warming climate has “unfortunately become the new normal”.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), excessive heat is one of the most dangerous meteorological events. One recent study estimates that more than 61,000 people died from the heat during Europe’s record-breaking summer last year.
One contributing factor to this year’s higher temperatures may be the climate pattern known as El Niño.
El Nino events, which occur every two to seven years, are characterized by above-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, and last about nine to 12 months.
North America has already experienced a series of extreme weather events this summer, with smoke from still-out-of-control wildfires in Canada causing unusual air pollution across large parts of the United States.
The Northeastern United States, particularly Vermont, has also recently been hit by heavy rains that have caused devastating floods.
According to climatologists, global warming can cause heavy and frequent rains.
Meanwhile, residents of much of the southern United States have been suffering from relentlessly high temperatures for weeks.
The temperature in Death Valley could equal or exceed the record for the highest air temperature reliably measured on Earth, said Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The official record of the Organization (WMO) is 56.7 °C (134 °F) recorded in Death Valley, in the southern California desert. But that was measured in 1913 and Swain stuck with the figure of 54.4°C (130°F) from 2020 and 2021.
The oceans haven’t been warming in early summer either.
Water temperatures off Florida’s southern coast exceeded 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For the Mediterranean, the World Meteorological Organization said surface temperatures will be “exceptionally high” over the coming days and weeks, exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in some parts, and several degrees above average.
Rising ocean temperatures can have severe consequences for aquatic life in terms of survival and migration, and it can also negatively affect the fishing industry.
At the other end of the planet, Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest level on record in June.
The world has warmed by an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-19th century, resulting in more extreme heat waves, more severe droughts in some areas, and intensified storms due to rising sea levels.
The current heatwave “underscores the growing urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and deeply as possible,” said Taalas of the World Meteorological Organization.
Severe temperature warnings have been issued for more than 100 million Americans with the National Weather Service predicting particularly dangerous conditions in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.
Many European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland, also bake at extreme temperatures.
Greece said its biggest tourist attraction, the Acropolis, will close during the hottest hours on Friday as temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Athens.
The European Space Agency said the mercury could rise to 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 Fahrenheit) in Sicily and Sardinia – “potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.
North Africa was also very hot and the Moroccan Meteorological Service issued a severe heat warning for the southern parts of the country.
Some regions in China, including the capital, Beijing, are experiencing extremely hot temperatures, and a major Chinese power company said one-day electricity generation hit a record high on Monday.
Parts of eastern Japan are also expected to reach 38 to 39 degrees Celsius (100.4 to 102.2 Fahrenheit) on Sunday and Monday, with the Japan Meteorological Agency warning that temperatures could reach previous records.
Last month was indeed the hottest on record, according to the US space agency NASA and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), warns that extreme weather caused by a warming climate has “unfortunately become the new normal”.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), excessive heat is one of the most dangerous meteorological events. One recent study estimates that more than 61,000 people died from the heat during Europe’s record-breaking summer last year.
One contributing factor to this year’s higher temperatures may be the climate pattern known as El Niño.
El Nino events, which occur every two to seven years, are characterized by above-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, and last about nine to 12 months.
North America has already experienced a series of extreme weather events this summer, with smoke from still-out-of-control wildfires in Canada causing unusual air pollution across large parts of the United States.
The Northeastern United States, particularly Vermont, has also recently been hit by heavy rains that have caused devastating floods.
According to climatologists, global warming can cause heavy and frequent rains.
Meanwhile, residents of much of the southern United States have been suffering from relentlessly high temperatures for weeks.
The temperature in Death Valley could equal or exceed the record for the highest air temperature reliably measured on Earth, said Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The official record of the Organization (WMO) is 56.7 °C (134 °F) recorded in Death Valley, in the southern California desert. But that was measured in 1913 and Swain stuck with the figure of 54.4°C (130°F) from 2020 and 2021.
The oceans haven’t been warming in early summer either.
Water temperatures off Florida’s southern coast exceeded 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For the Mediterranean, the World Meteorological Organization said surface temperatures will be “exceptionally high” over the coming days and weeks, exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in some parts, and several degrees above average.
Rising ocean temperatures can have severe consequences for aquatic life in terms of survival and migration, and it can also negatively affect the fishing industry.
At the other end of the planet, Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest level on record in June.
The world has warmed by an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-19th century, resulting in more extreme heat waves, more severe droughts in some areas, and intensified storms due to rising sea levels.
The current heatwave “underscores the growing urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and deeply as possible,” said Taalas of the World Meteorological Organization.
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