Heatwaves, fires, break world records

Health authorities have sounded alarms from North America to Europe and Asia, urging people to stay hydrated and shelter from the burning sun, in a stark reminder of the effects of global warming.In Athens, where the mercury hit 39 degrees on Saturday, the Acropolis, one of Greece’s top tourist attractions, closed during the hottest hours for three consecutive days to Sunday.Wildfires broke out near Athens on Monday as a heatwave grips Greece, firefighters said, with 1,200 children evacuated outside a seaside resort.The first blaze started in Kouvaras, 50 kilometres southeast of Athens. “It’s a difficult fire, the winds are really strong” with gusts reaching up to 60 kilometres per hour,” said Yannis Artopios, a firefighters’ spokesman.The domestic press agency ANA said the second forest fire had also flared in strong winds near the Isthmus of Corinth close to the popular beach town of Loutraki where the children were rescued.Greece, along with Italy and Spain, has been gripped by a heatwave since last week, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius in the centre of the country.Seven waterbombing aircraft, four helicopters and 150 firemen backed by colleagues from Romania were fighting the flames on two fronts, local media reported.The blaze burnt quickly through brush and spread south toward the Attica region and the resorts of Lagonissi, Anavyssos and Saronida.Several homes were burned in the area, according to footage by public broadcaster ERT, and an equestrian centre was evacuated. The authorities told residents to leave the area and monks were evacuated from a local monastery.The high temperatures are expected to continue later in the week, favouring the fires.EUROPE IS WORLD’S FASTEST WARMING CONTINENTEurope, the globe’s fastest-warming continent, was bracing for its hottest-ever temperature on Italy’s islands of Sicily and Sardinia, where a high of 48 degrees Celsius is predicted, according to the European Space Agency.The United Nations on Wednesday validated the European heat record of 48.8C set in Sicily in 2021.“The extreme weather - an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate - is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies,” said World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalaswwo.“This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible.” In Rome, American Colman Peavy could not believe the heat as he sipped a cappuccino at a cafe with his wife Ana at the start of a two-week vacation.“We’re from Texas and it’s really hot there, we thought we would escape the heat but it’s even hotter here,” said the 30-year-old.Italians were warned to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time,” with the health ministry sounding a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.Temperatures were due to hit 42C-43C in Rome on Tuesday, smashing the record of 40.5C set in August 2007.In Cyprus, where temperatures are expected to remain above 40C through Thursday, a 90-year-old man died as a result of heatstroke and three other seniors were hospitalised, health officials said.In Romania, temperatures are expected to reach 39C on Monday. Little reprieve is forecast for Spain, where meteorologists warned of “abnormally high” temperatures on Monday, including up to 44C in the southern Andalusia region in what would be a new regional record.HOTTEST JUNE ON RECORD, INCLUDING IN ASIAIt was already the world’s hottest June on record, according to the EU weather monitoring service, and July looks to be readying to challenge its own record.China reported a new high for mid-July in the northwest of the country, where temperature reached 52.2C in the Xinjiang region’s village of Sanbao, breaking the previous high of 50.6C set six years ago.In nearby Turpan city, where ground surface temperatures sizzled at 80C in some parts, authorities have told workers and students to stay home and ordered special vehicles to spray water on major thoroughfares, the weather body said.In Japan, heatstroke alerts were issued in 32 out of the country’s 47 prefectures, mainly in central and southwestern regions.At least 60 people in Japan were treated for heatstroke, local media reported, including 51 who were taken to hospital in Tokyo.The heat was enough for at least one man to dispense with social mortification in Hamamatsu city.“It’s honestly unbearable without a parasol, although I have to admit it is a bit embarrassing,” he told national broadcaster NHK of the umbrella in his hand.Along with the heat, parts of Asia have also been battered by torrential rain. South Korea’s president vowed Monday to “completely overhaul” the country’s approach to extreme weather, after at least 40 people were killed in recent flooding and landslides during monsoon rains, which are forecast to continue through Wednesday.US ROASTED, 80 MILLION UNDER ‘OPPRESSIVE’ HEAT ADVISORIESIn western and southern states in the US, which are used to high temperatures, more than 80 million people were under advisories as a “widespread and oppressive” heatwave roasted the region.California’s Death Valley, often among the hottest places on Earth, reached a near-record 52C on Sunday afternoon.In Arizona, the state capital Phoenix recorded its 17th straight day above 43 degrees Celsius, as temperatures hit 45C on Sunday afternoon.The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “a widespread and oppressive heatwave” in parts of the Southwest, western Gulf Coast and southern Florida, with sizzling temperatures carrying into the coming week raising health risks for millions.Volunteers around Phoenix have been organised to direct residents to cooling centers and distribute bottles of water and hats, but program head David Hondula told the local ABC station that its three-days-per-week schedule is “clearly … not enough.” In Utah’s capital Salt Lake City, the temperature soared to 41C on Sunday, beating the previous record of 39C for the date.The stationary high pressure system covering much of the US southwest, known as a heat dome, brought temperatures in some parts of Nevada and southern California to above 46C.The NWS has said heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States and urged Americans to take the risk seriously.Heatwaves are occurring more often and more intensely in major US cities, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, with a frequency of six per year during the 2010s and 2020s compared to two per year during the 1960s.“This heatwave is NOT typical desert heat,” the NWS Las Vegas office tweeted Thursday, specifying that “its long duration, extreme daytime temperatures, & warm nights” were unusual.Flooding has also ravaged parts of the northeastern US in recent weeks. Officials in eastern Pennsylvania’s Bucks County reported on Sunday that five people had died and two children were missing after a storm the day before unleashed 18 centimetres of rain in one hour, causing flash flooding that swept away vehicles.CANADA CONTINUES TO BURNIn Canada, which is suffering from warm temperatures combined with months of below-average rainfall, the amount of land burned by devastating wildfires so far in 2023 climbed to an highest of 10 million hectares on Saturday.“We find ourselves this year with figures that are worse than our most pessimistic scenarios,” Yan Boulanger, a researcher at Canada’s natural resources ministry, told AFP.On Sunday, a firefighter died while working in Canada’s Northwest Territories, authorities announced, only days after a 19-year-old woman lost her life working to extinguish a fire in nearby British Columbia.While it can be hard to attribute a particular weather event to climate change, scientists insist human-linked global warming is responsible for the multiplication and intensification of heatwaves.- With AFP

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July 17, 2023 at 11:37PM
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Health authorities have sounded alarms from North America to Europe and Asia, urging people to stay hydrated and shelter from the burning sun, in a stark reminder of the effects of global warming.In Athens, where the mercury hit 39 degrees on Saturday, the Acropolis, one of Greece’s top tourist attractions, closed during the hottest hours for three consecutive days to Sunday.Wildfires broke out near Athens on Monday as a heatwave grips Greece, firefighters said, with 1,200 children evacuated outside a seaside resort.The first blaze started in Kouvaras, 50 kilometres southeast of Athens. “It’s a difficult fire, the winds are really strong” with gusts reaching up to 60 kilometres per hour,” said Yannis Artopios, a firefighters’ spokesman.The domestic press agency ANA said the second forest fire had also flared in strong winds near the Isthmus of Corinth close to the popular beach town of Loutraki where the children were rescued.Greece, along with Italy and Spain, has been gripped by a heatwave since last week, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius in the centre of the country.Seven waterbombing aircraft, four helicopters and 150 firemen backed by colleagues from Romania were fighting the flames on two fronts, local media reported.The blaze burnt quickly through brush and spread south toward the Attica region and the resorts of Lagonissi, Anavyssos and Saronida.Several homes were burned in the area, according to footage by public broadcaster ERT, and an equestrian centre was evacuated. The authorities told residents to leave the area and monks were evacuated from a local monastery.The high temperatures are expected to continue later in the week, favouring the fires.EUROPE IS WORLD’S FASTEST WARMING CONTINENTEurope, the globe’s fastest-warming continent, was bracing for its hottest-ever temperature on Italy’s islands of Sicily and Sardinia, where a high of 48 degrees Celsius is predicted, according to the European Space Agency.The United Nations on Wednesday validated the European heat record of 48.8C set in Sicily in 2021.“The extreme weather - an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate - is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies,” said World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalaswwo.“This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible.” In Rome, American Colman Peavy could not believe the heat as he sipped a cappuccino at a cafe with his wife Ana at the start of a two-week vacation.“We’re from Texas and it’s really hot there, we thought we would escape the heat but it’s even hotter here,” said the 30-year-old.Italians were warned to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time,” with the health ministry sounding a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.Temperatures were due to hit 42C-43C in Rome on Tuesday, smashing the record of 40.5C set in August 2007.In Cyprus, where temperatures are expected to remain above 40C through Thursday, a 90-year-old man died as a result of heatstroke and three other seniors were hospitalised, health officials said.In Romania, temperatures are expected to reach 39C on Monday. Little reprieve is forecast for Spain, where meteorologists warned of “abnormally high” temperatures on Monday, including up to 44C in the southern Andalusia region in what would be a new regional record.HOTTEST JUNE ON RECORD, INCLUDING IN ASIAIt was already the world’s hottest June on record, according to the EU weather monitoring service, and July looks to be readying to challenge its own record.China reported a new high for mid-July in the northwest of the country, where temperature reached 52.2C in the Xinjiang region’s village of Sanbao, breaking the previous high of 50.6C set six years ago.In nearby Turpan city, where ground surface temperatures sizzled at 80C in some parts, authorities have told workers and students to stay home and ordered special vehicles to spray water on major thoroughfares, the weather body said.In Japan, heatstroke alerts were issued in 32 out of the country’s 47 prefectures, mainly in central and southwestern regions.At least 60 people in Japan were treated for heatstroke, local media reported, including 51 who were taken to hospital in Tokyo.The heat was enough for at least one man to dispense with social mortification in Hamamatsu city.“It’s honestly unbearable without a parasol, although I have to admit it is a bit embarrassing,” he told national broadcaster NHK of the umbrella in his hand.Along with the heat, parts of Asia have also been battered by torrential rain. South Korea’s president vowed Monday to “completely overhaul” the country’s approach to extreme weather, after at least 40 people were killed in recent flooding and landslides during monsoon rains, which are forecast to continue through Wednesday.US ROASTED, 80 MILLION UNDER ‘OPPRESSIVE’ HEAT ADVISORIESIn western and southern states in the US, which are used to high temperatures, more than 80 million people were under advisories as a “widespread and oppressive” heatwave roasted the region.California’s Death Valley, often among the hottest places on Earth, reached a near-record 52C on Sunday afternoon.In Arizona, the state capital Phoenix recorded its 17th straight day above 43 degrees Celsius, as temperatures hit 45C on Sunday afternoon.The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “a widespread and oppressive heatwave” in parts of the Southwest, western Gulf Coast and southern Florida, with sizzling temperatures carrying into the coming week raising health risks for millions.Volunteers around Phoenix have been organised to direct residents to cooling centers and distribute bottles of water and hats, but program head David Hondula told the local ABC station that its three-days-per-week schedule is “clearly … not enough.” In Utah’s capital Salt Lake City, the temperature soared to 41C on Sunday, beating the previous record of 39C for the date.The stationary high pressure system covering much of the US southwest, known as a heat dome, brought temperatures in some parts of Nevada and southern California to above 46C.The NWS has said heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States and urged Americans to take the risk seriously.Heatwaves are occurring more often and more intensely in major US cities, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, with a frequency of six per year during the 2010s and 2020s compared to two per year during the 1960s.“This heatwave is NOT typical desert heat,” the NWS Las Vegas office tweeted Thursday, specifying that “its long duration, extreme daytime temperatures, & warm nights” were unusual.Flooding has also ravaged parts of the northeastern US in recent weeks. Officials in eastern Pennsylvania’s Bucks County reported on Sunday that five people had died and two children were missing after a storm the day before unleashed 18 centimetres of rain in one hour, causing flash flooding that swept away vehicles.CANADA CONTINUES TO BURNIn Canada, which is suffering from warm temperatures combined with months of below-average rainfall, the amount of land burned by devastating wildfires so far in 2023 climbed to an highest of 10 million hectares on Saturday.“We find ourselves this year with figures that are worse than our most pessimistic scenarios,” Yan Boulanger, a researcher at Canada’s natural resources ministry, told AFP.On Sunday, a firefighter died while working in Canada’s Northwest Territories, authorities announced, only days after a 19-year-old woman lost her life working to extinguish a fire in nearby British Columbia.While it can be hard to attribute a particular weather event to climate change, scientists insist human-linked global warming is responsible for the multiplication and intensification of heatwaves.- With AFP