The era of global warming has ended, giving way to the perilous period of “global boiling,” according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. July has been unusually hot, with scientists projecting that it will be the hottest month ever recorded globally, and most certainly the warmest in human history.
The World Meteorological Organisation and the Copernicus Climate Change Service affirm that July’s heat broke all prior records, briefly exceeding the critical warning level of reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
This severe heat has caused heat waves in North America, Europe, and Asia, resulting in deadly floods, wildfires, and extreme weather events.
Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo and other scientists blame the extreme temperatures on man-made climate change, which has been exacerbated by a natural El Nino event in the central Pacific, which impacts worldwide weather patterns.
United States Bakes Under Heat Waves
In one of the hottest summers ever recorded, almost 50 million Americans are still under a heat advisory, as a heatwave continues to afflict large parts of the country. The hot and dry weather in the United States’ southwest has sparked a spate of wildfires.
California and Nevada are now facing an uncontrollable wildfire. Another wildfire that started in Washington state has expanded into Canada, prompting people of Osoyoos, British Columbia, to flee.
Authorities have issued an evacuation order for the Canadian town of Osoyoos and its surrounding territory due to an out-of-control wildfire known as Eagle Bluff that has crossed the border from the US state of Washington.
In Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures reached at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) for the 31st consecutive day on July 30th. Doctors in the area observed an increase in first-, second-, and third-degree contact-burn cases, some of which were deadly, due to the intense heat.
Water bodies around the world are experiencing a phenomenon described as a “marine heatwave,” in which temperatures rise to record levels. Temperatures have risen dramatically in the Caribbean Basin, the Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico. This has put at risk the already vulnerable marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, which particularly die due to certain conditions.
In the midst of record-breaking heat, Joe Biden announced additional measures last week to safeguard Americans from the “existential threat of climate change” and excessive heat.
Europe Is Burning!
Europe is currently experiencing an unprecedented heatwave in its history. The current European high of 48.8 degrees Celsius, established in Sicily in 2021, may potentially be broken.
This blistering heat has now spread to other southern and eastern European countries, including France, Spain, Poland, and Greece, interrupting travel plans for travellers visiting popular holiday sites throughout the region.
Cerberus, a high-pressure system that produces dry and stable weather with low cloud formation and no wind, is blamed for the heatwave. Warming temperatures are changing air circulation patterns, increasing the occurrences of excessive heat and drought across Europe.
Greece experienced its longest and most relentless heat wave since people started keeping track. 400 wildfires lit up satellite images, destroying olive groves and pine woods, as well as homes, farms, and flocks.
The blazes, fueled by high winds and temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), killed two people on Wednesday in the seaside area of Magnesia, north of Athens, and caused a new round of evacuations.
Fires that have been raging on the island of Rhodes since July 19 forced the evacuation of 20,000 residents over the weekend. Thousands of visitors were flown home, and tour companies canceled future excursions.
Also Read: ResearchED: Why Do Indian Cities Flood So Easily?
India Battles Climate Change Induced Floods
An unusually intense monsoon season has lashed sections of India, inundating some areas while leaving others vulnerable to landslides and power and communication outages.
Telangana is witnessing heavy rains, causing flooding in low-lying areas and disrupting road connectivity. Following heavy rains, eight persons were swept away in the floodwaters of a watercourse in Telangana’s Mulugu district.
Record monsoon rains caused massive waterlogging, road cave-ins, collapsed homes, and gridlocked traffic in broad sections of northern India, killing more than 100 people over two weeks.
At least 88 people have perished, 42 of them in the last five days, and more than 100 have been injured in the worst-hit Himachal Pradesh state, where cars, buses, bridges, and houses have been washed away by swirling flood waters.
Authorities deployed helicopters to rescue over 300 people, mostly tourists, who had been stranded in the Himachal Pradesh state’s Chandertal district since Saturday. Heavy rains and landslides in the state have caused about 170 houses to fall and another 600 to be partially damaged.
In New Delhi, residential neighbourhoods near the Yamuna River flooded, burying roads, automobiles, and homes, forcing thousands of residents to flee low-lying areas.
According to the statement, authorities have transferred about 30,000 people to relief camps and converted several schools into relief camps in the worst-hit districts. Hundreds of people and their cattle have taken refuge under overhead road bridges in the Indian capital’s eastern outskirts.
The average Earth temperature for the first 23 days of July was 16.95 degrees Celsius, approximately one-third of a degree Celsius higher than the previous record established in July 2019, emphasising the seriousness of the problem.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: AP News, Guardian, India Today
Find the blogger: Palak Dogra
This post is tagged under: global boiling, world health organisation, climate chnages, united states wildfires, greece wildfires, europe, europe wildfires, india floods, delhi floods
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