“Temperatures ten degrees higher than average. it’s a taste of the future »warns the World Meteorological Organization. Spain ravaged by fires. Across the ocean, third year of California drought
“The house is burning,” Greta Thunberg would say. And never as in this debut of the summer of 2022 the numbers and maps are supporting this thesis. The drought that is bringing Italy to its knees, especially in the North, is the daughter of a meteorological phenomenon that has burst into Europe and that also in France, in Spain, in the United Kingdom is giving rise to atmospheric phenomena never recorded in the past years. And on the other side of the Atlantic, too, record temperatures and low rainfall are forcing the authorities to take measures to limit water consumption.
In Europa the heat wave has a precise origin: an anticyclone from Africa, in advance of what happened in previous years, has created a blanket of heat over the entire western part of Europe. “Temperatures are similar to those observed in July or August. In some parts of Spain and France, temperatures exceed the average by more than 10 ° C of this time of year, breaking many monthly records. This is combined with drought in many parts of Europe, ”warns the World meteorological organization. “Due to climate change, heatwaves start earlier and are becoming more frequent and more severe due to record concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. What we are witnessing today it’s a taste of the futureIs the diagnosis of the same organization. But here is the situation in some countries.
* In France – Since last week, concerts and public gatherings have been suspended in some areas of the country, in particular in the Bordeaux region where the thermometer has reached 43 degrees. Paris also peaked at 39 degrees a few days ago. The use of air conditioners has forced the electricity grid operators to import energy from neighboring countries.
* In Spain – The month of May was the hottest ever in the recent history of the Iberian Peninsula and the scenario was reproduced in June. Here the main alarm is given by fires: 20,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed in Catalonia. In the south of the country temperatures of up to 45 degrees are expected. Spain is also struggling with drought: in spring rainfall was 25% less than normal.
* In the UK – The British Isles are marginally touched compared to the continent; this did not prevent Wales from experiencing temperatures of 33 degrees for several days, an absolutely anomalous heat for the region. A level three health alert has been issued in London.
* In Italy – Hundreds of mayors have already had to limit the use of drinking water, especially in the north but also in the south the African heat wave forces the authorities to run for cover: in Puglia the governor Michele Emiliano has signed an ordinance that prohibits the heaviest jobs (starting with the agricultural ones) in the central part of the day, from 12.30 to 16, until 31 August.
* In the United States – Particularly critical situation in California, where the drought has been going on for three years. In many counties in the state, the use of water for some domestic purposes, such as garden irrigation, has already been prohibited
June 28, 2022 (change June 28, 2022 | 12:26)
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