Record breaking heat in America, Europe, China 2023

Summer has just begun in the Northern Hemisphere, but parts of Europe, China and the United States are already reeling from a severe heat wave, where record temperatures are expected this weekend, set to warm A clear example of the dangers of climate.

Extreme heat advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service for more than 100 million Americans, predicting particularly dangerous conditions in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas. Several European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland are also reeling under scorching temperatures.

Greece said its top tourist attraction, the Acropolis, would remain closed during the hottest hours on Friday as temperatures in Athens are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The mercury can soar to 48C (118.4F) on the Isles of Scilly. and Sardinia, the European Space Agency said – “probably the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe.”

North Africa is also experiencing extreme heat and Morocco’s meteorological service has issued a red extreme heat alert for southern parts of the country. Temperatures are rising in some regions of China, including the capital Beijing, and a major Chinese power company said its one-day power output hit a record high on Monday.

Parts of eastern Japan are also expected to reach temperatures of 38 to 39C (100.4 to 102.2F) on Sunday and Monday. Japan’s meteorological agency has warned that temperatures could reach previous records. Last month was already the warmest June on record, according to the US space agency NASA and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Extreme weather is “sadly” becoming the new normal as a result of a warming climate,’ warned Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). According to WMO, extreme heat is one of the deadliest meteorological phenomena.

A recent study estimated that more than 61,000 people died from the heat during Europe’s record-breaking heatwave last year. A contributing factor to the higher temperatures this year may be a climate pattern known as El Niño.

El Niño events, which occur every two to seven years. Sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific near the equator are warmer than average, and last for about nine to 12 months. North America has already seen a series of extreme weather events this summer, including wildfire smoke.

Fires in Canada are out of control, causing extraordinary air pollution over large parts of the United States. The US Northeast, especially Vermont, has also experienced torrential rains recently, causing devastating flooding.

According to climate scientists, global warming can be serious and dangerous. Rain more often. Meanwhile, residents of much of the southern United States have been experiencing consistently high temperatures for weeks.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said temperatures in Death Valley could equal or exceed the record for the hottest air temperature ever measured on Earth. The official WMO record is 56.7C (134F) set at Death Valley in the Southern California desert.

But it was measured in 1913 and SWAN stands by the 2020 and 2021 figure of 54.4C (130F). The oceans haven’t been spared from the early heat either. Water temperatures have exceeded 32C (90F) off the southern coast of Florida. , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As far as the Mediterranean Sea is concerned, surface temperatures will be “extraordinarily high” in the coming days and weeks, the WMO said, exceeding 30C (86F) in some parts, several degrees above average.

Warming ocean temperatures could have devastating consequences for both the survival and migration of aquatic life and could also negatively impact the fishing industry. On the other side of the planet, Antarctic sea ice has reached its lowest level in the month of June.

The world has warmed by an average of about 1.2C (1.9F) since the mid-1800s, with more intense heat waves, more severe droughts in some regions and rising seas fueling storms. The WMO’s Talas said the current heat wave “underscores the growing urgency to cut greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible.”

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