Punishing heatwaves hit three continents Tuesday, breaking records in cities across the northern hemisphere less than two weeks after Earth recorded what scientists said was likely. its hottest days in modern history.
Greek firefighters rushed to put out wildfires as drought increased the risk of new fires across Europe. Beijing recorded another day of 95-degree heat, and residents of Hangzhou, another Chinese city, compared the sweltering conditions to a sauna. From the Middle East to the American Southwest, delivery drivers, airport workers and construction crews laborious under a burning sky. Those who could stay inside did so.
The temperatures, affecting much of the planet simultaneously, are a stark reminder that climate change is a global crisis, driven by human-made forces: emissions of heat-trapping gases, primarily caused by fuel burning fossils.
John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate change, sought to coordinate part of the global response with the Chinese prime minister in Beijing as a heatwave seized a huge part of China.
“The world really expects us to show leadership, particularly on the climate issue,” Mr. Kerry told Chinese officials. “Climate, as you know, is a global issue and not a bilateral one. It is a threat to all humanity.
The planet has warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century and will continue to warm until humans stop burning coal, oil and gas, scientists say. Warmer temperatures contribute to extreme weather events and help make periods of extreme heat more frequent, longer and more intense.
The return of El Niño, a cyclical weather phenomenon that, depending on sea surface temperature and air pressure above, can originate in the Pacific and impact conditions of this year, will also affect the conditions of this year. large-scale effects about the weather around the world.
On Tuesday, for hundreds of millions of people, it was difficult to escape the heat. In the United States, Phoenix broke a nearly half-century-old record on Tuesday, with the 19th consecutive day of temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius). Elsewhere in the country, hot and humid conditions are expected to worsen along the Gulf Coast and throughout the Southeast.
Forest fires enraged another week in Canada, after burning a staggering 25 million acres so far this year, an area roughly the size of Kentucky. With peak fire season more than a month away, 2023 has already eclipsed Canada’s annual record, dating back to 1989.
The fires also forced the evacuation of villages south, west and north of Athens, burning about 7,400 acres of forest in Greece despite aerial water bombardments aimed at controlling the fires.
“We have had fires, we have them now and we will have them in the future, and this is one of the consequences of the climate crisis that we are experiencing with ever greater intensity,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a press release. .
Mr Mitsotakis cut short a trip to meet European leaders in Brussels to oversee the fight against the fires. Greek authorities, who have opened air-conditioned venues in Athens to offer some relief, are also expected to restrict access to the Acropolis during cooler morning and afternoon hours, as they did over the weekend -last end after the collapse of a tourist.
In many European cities, authorities have installed cooling stations. And aware of the danger… more than 61,000 people died during last summer’s heatwaves in Europe, according to a recent study – urging visitors and residents to stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day.
In Rome, where temperatures exceeded 37.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the authorities took action. a work group to distribute water and help people suffering from heat stress at sites like the Colosseum and open-air markets.
Japanese authorities also rushed to help those suffering from the heat: at a festival in Kyoto on Monday, nine people, aged 8 to over 80, were taken to hospital as temperatures approached the 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, where the temperature reached more than 102 degrees Fahrenheit, the regional education council urged 415 primary and secondary schools to cancel gym classes and outdoor activities .
And in China, where a series of heat waves have ravaged the country since late June, Beijing and other cities have recorded temperatures above 90 degrees day after day.
Power plants, in turn, have broken electricity production records, according to the Official China Energy News — burn more coal to meet cooling demand. China uses a considerable amount of solar, wind and hydroelectric power, but it still relies on coal to produce three-fifths of its electricity. Some internet users in two provinces, Guangdong and Sichuan, reported scattered power outages this week; State media, which tends to be slow to acknowledge electricity problems, has remained silent on the power outages.
A remote town in northwest China reported the highest temperature ever recorded in that country on Sunday – 52.2 degrees Celsius or 126 degrees Fahrenheit.
For millions of people in South and Southeast Asia, the sweltering heat began well before summer. India recorded its hottest February on record, then endured high temperatures in April, when 11 people died of heatstroke in an accident. single day, and again in May and June. Monsoon rains have only cooled temperatures across the country in recent weeks.
Even areas where extreme heat is normal – and where those who can barely afford to venture outside in summer – experience extremes.
At the Persian Gulf International Airport on Iran’s southwest coast, the heat index — which measures the actual temperature outside based on temperature and humidity — reached an extraordinary 152 degrees Fahrenheit (66.7 Celsius) at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, according to weather data. The combination of 104-degree heat and humid air, with humidity of 65 percent, pushed conditions at the airport beyond what scientists imagined. said humans can normally resist.
In Death Valley National Park, California, the thermometer on Sunday read just over 128 degrees (53 degrees Celsius).
Death Valley, a 3,000-square-mile stretch of the Mojave Desert along the California-Nevada border, is home to the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth, according to the Meteorological Organization worldwide. In 1913, in Furnace Creek, California, the temperature reached 134 degrees Fahrenheit, or 56.6 Celsius.
In recent years, thermometers have gotten closer, reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit in 2020 and 2021, and forecasters have warned it could approach that level again this summer. But this week at least, the National Weather Service predicts that temperatures in the national park are expected to drop, relatively speaking, to between 122 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
The report was provided by Keith Bradsher, Viviane Yee, Shawn Hubler, Raymond Zhong, Stanley Reed, Patricia Cohen, Isabelle Kwai, Niki Kitsantonis, Jacey Fortin, John Yoon, Viviane Wang, Lisa Friedman, Nadja Popovitch, Hisako Ueno, Hikari Hida, Motoko rich, Erin McCann, Anushka Patil And Chris Stanford.
