2023-07-17 00:40:00
Tens of millions of people endured this Sunday a persistent hello of heat in the northern hemisphere, with extreme temperatures in the United States, Europe and Asia, in a new illustration of the effects of global warming.
In Europe, where warming is progressing twice as fast as the world average, according to experts, several countries recorded extreme temperatures that exceeded 38 degrees.
In Italy, 16 cities are on red alert, with highs of up to 36 and 37 ºC. Despite this, some 15,000 pilgrims and tourists, according to the Vatican gendarmerie, gathered in Saint Peter’s Square to attend Pope Francis’ traditional Angelus prayer at noon.
The United States is not spared and expects an “extremely dangerous” heat wave from California to Texas, according to the US National Weather Service (NWS). In Death Valley, in California, the thermometer reached 51 ° C and this Sunday up to 54 degrees is expected.
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In addition to high temperatures, southern California is suffering from violent fires that have already burned 1,214 hectares. North of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a brief flood killed three people on Saturday and four people are still missing, firefighters said.
In Canada, more than 10 million hectares burned this year, a balance much higher than what the country experienced in the past. The balance remains provisional, with more than 900 active fires across the country, of which 570 are out of control, according to the Inter-Service Center for Forest Fires (CIFFC).
In Japan, authorities issued a heat stroke alert in 20 of the country’s 47 prefectures, with temperatures close to 40 degrees. The heat wave affects the east and southwest of the Japanese archipelago, while others suffer torrential rains that have left at least eight victims in recent days.
China, in turn, issued several alerts for high temperatures and warned that these could reach maximums of up to 45 degrees in the Xinjiang region (northeast), partially desert, and 39º C in the southern region of Guangxi.
In Canada, which suffers from warm temperatures combined with months of below-average rainfall, the amount of land burned by devastating wildfires so far in 2023 rose to an all-time high of 10 million hectares on Saturday. “We find ourselves this year with figures worse than our most pessimistic scenarios,” Yan Boulanger, a researcher at Natural Resources Canada, told AFP.
Heat is one of the deadliest weather phenomena, recently recalled the World Meteorological Organization. Last summer, in Europe alone, high temperatures caused more than 60,000 deaths, according to a recent study. While it may be difficult to attribute any particular weather event to climate change, scientists insist that human-related global warming is responsible for the multiplication and intensification of heat waves.
Heat wave in sight in Spain
Spain was on Sunday at the gates of a new heat wave, brief, yes, after having left behind a suffocating week whose consequences are still felt on the Canary island of La Palma, where a fire this weekend burned some 5,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of 4,000 people. This is the same island, off the northwestern coast of Africa, that already suffered the devastating consequences of a volcano eruption in late 2021.
The Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet) issued orange warnings for high temperatures (38 to 42º C) in large areas of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands on Monday, in addition to a red warning (extreme danger), also on Monday, in areas of Andalusia and on Tuesday in Aragon, Catalonia and Mallorca (42 to 44º C).
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The fire suffered by La Palma made the residents of this Spanish island relive the destructive volcanic eruption of 2021, when for 85 days it ejected ash and rivers of lava that buried more than 1,000 houses, as well as schools, churches and health centers, in addition to to block roads and cover hectares of banana plantations, the island’s economic pillar.
This week the Canary Islands experienced a heat wave that raised temperatures above 40 ºC in many points, something unusual in these islands with a temperate climate all year round. The fire started early Saturday morning in the western half of the island, which suffered the volcanic eruption, only a little further north, and forced the evacuation of 4,000 people, who were able to start returning this Sunday night their houses.
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The temperature rose again in Italy, without deterring tourists from visiting beaches, museums and historical sites. Sixteen large cities are on red alert, including Bologna, Florence, Rome, Cagliari and Palermo with temperatures of 35/36º C in the shade and 40º C in the sun.
In Rome, renamed “infernal city” by the press, the thermometer registered 34º C and could reach 40º on Monday and 42º-43º on Tuesday, breaking the record of 40.5º, in 2007. At the zoo, the staff began to feed the animals with frozen fruits. Visitors saw a hippo eating slices of watermelon and a lemur licking fruit to quench their thirst.
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The highest temperatures are expected on the island of Sardinia. The record of 48.8ºC from August 11, 2021, the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe, could be broken. On the island of Lampedusa, some 145 kilometers from the Tunisian coast -where thousands of migrants land every year-, the Red Cross “expanded the shaded areas with capitals and pergolas”said a spokeswoman for the international humanitarian organization.
The Italian Meteorological Center (CMI) talks about “the most intense heat wave of the summer, but also one of the most intense of all time” in the country.
United States: a “deadly” wave of extreme heat affected 80 million people
Stripes of the United States, home to more than 80 million people, are under alert for unrelenting temperatures in the western and southern states of the country. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “a widespread and oppressive heat wave” across parts of the Southwest, West Gulf Coast and southern Florida, with sweltering temperatures extending into next week and increasing risks to the health of millions of people.
Southern Californians, who saw thermometers peak at 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit (41-43 Celsius) on Saturday, when the famous Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, reached a temperature 51 degrees life threatening.
The city of Idyllwild, east of Los Angeles and about 1,645 meters above sea level, surpassed its previous record to reach 38 degrees, while the California city of Imperial, east of San Diego, tied its daily record of 47 degrees.
Arizona, the state capital of Phoenix, recorded 16 consecutive days above 43°C, as temperatures reached 47°C on Saturday afternoon and stayed above 32°C overnight. The thermometer rose again on Sunday afternoon to 42°C, in the city, which is under alert for excessive heat and temperatures of 45°C were expected for this Sunday.
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Residents of California, Nevada and Arizona faced a second day of equally brutal temperatures on Sunday.with a high of 47.7 degrees and forecasts of 53 degrees, and the NWS said heat is the leading cause of weather-related death in the United States and urged Americans to take the risk seriously.
“In total, from South Florida and the Gulf Coast to the Southwest, more than 80 million people remain under an Excessive Heat Warning or Heat Advisory as of this morning,” the NWS said in a bulletin from the Sunday morning.
Heat waves occur with greater frequency and intensity in major US cities.according to Federal Environmental Protection Agencywith a frequency of six a year during the 2010s and 2020s compared to two a year during the 1960s. “This heat wave is NOT typical desert heat,” the NWS tweeted, specifying that “its long duration, extreme daytime temperatures and warm nights” were unusual.
Authorities have been issuing warnings for days, advising people to avoid outdoor activities during the day and to avoid dehydration, which can quickly become fatal in such temperatures.
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