UN calls for urgent action as extreme heat is set to worsen

C: UK Met Office

As I write, combat aircraft are being sent from the European Union to Greece. Their mission is to help tackle the wildfires raging across the country, especially in the greater Athens area. The hashtags #Heatwaves and #ClimateEmergency are currently trending on Twitter.

Much of the Northern Hemisphere remains gripped by record heat.

In fact, experts believe that the heatwave will intensify this week, bringing further misery to tens of millions. This is extreme climate change in action, right now.

🌡️ Extreme levels of heat are affecting large parts of the Northern Hemisphere

⚠️ Exceptionally high temperatures are breaking records in places and dangerously hot weather will continue in many areas during the next week pic.twitter.com/zebYqdZXGH

— Met Office (@metoffice) July 17, 2023

This is the definition of compound, concurrent heat extremes! What you're looking at is the pressure pattern & wind flow at the 500mb level (5600 m, 18K ft). This is why Death Valley hit 129, the Med may hit 118, Iran heat index 152F and China hit an all-time heat record of 126. pic.twitter.com/qlXnoaAMmq

— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) July 17, 2023

The temperatures are shocking. Parts of Italy today are due to exceed 45°C. Later this week, they could reach a staggering 48.8°C, which would break the record set in Sicily two years ago.

Italy is predicting that some 23 Italian cities, including Rome, where temperatures are predicted to reach 42 or 43°C, would be on “red alert” by tomorrow. “This is exceptional heat,” Carlo Cacciamani, the chief of Italy’s National Meteorological and Climatology Agency, told the Guardian. “We are expecting days of above 40°C and this is already a strong anomaly. This type of situation is occurring more frequently than it did in the past.”

Italy is not alone. The whole of the southern Mediterranean region is seeing soaring temperatures. The Spanish state meteorological service AEMET is warning of temperatures of between 42°C and 44°C. It, too, has issued alerts. Wildfires on the Canary Island of La Palma continue to burn out of control.

The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has now issued red alerts for extreme temperatures for most parts of Italy, northeastern Spain, Croatia, Serbia, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

The heat and drought are also spreading north. Even Alpine countries, like Switzerland, are experiencing forest fires. Further afield, almost half of the EU has now slipped into a “severe” drought, with drought conditions spreading into Northern Europe.

The heat is taking it toll. Already there are reports of deaths from heat in Cyprus.

Some 61,000 people died from heat last summer and if the heat continues like this, the death toll could be even higher.

Meanwhile in the US, there is no respite in sight, with hotspot Phoenix set to experience its 19th consecutive day of highs of 110+°F today.

Phoenix is on pace to see its 19th consecutive day with highs reaching 110+ °F today, which will break the old record set back in 1974. Well above normal temperatures will continue through the rest of the week with an Excessive Heat Warning remaining in effect. #azwx #cawx pic.twitter.com/ajvPjzqYzC

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) July 18, 2023

Matt Salerno, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix told the New York Times, “we’re talking 10 degrees above where they normally are.” Already there have been 12 heat related deaths in the last month.

Last weekend, excessive heatwaves and advisories covered over 100 million people with “dangerous and sweltering heat” especially across much of the Western U.S. Meanwhile, tourists are now traveling to Death Valley in the hope of witnessing the record temperatures, which have now reached 56°C or 133°F. Even parts of Northern states, including Michigan, New York, and Vermont have recently broken daily temperature records.

Nor is the heatwave confined to Europe and US. Temperatures over 40°C are expected in Asia and North Africa. The Moroccan meteorological service issued a red alert for extreme heat warning of temperatures of 38°C to 47°C in central and northern parts of the country. China has already recorded temperatures of 52.2C. Meanwhile in Iran:

Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran reported a heat index of 152°F (66.7°C) today at 12:30 pm.

Those are intolerable conditions for human/animal life. pic.twitter.com/R3RJ9pf4DC

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 16, 2023

Once again the UN has called for urgent action to phase out fossil fuels. “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. This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible,” said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas yesterday.

The head of the WHO also took to Twitter to urge Governments to act too:

In many parts of the world, today is predicted to be the hottest day on record. And these records have already been broken a few times this year. Heatwaves put our health and lives at risk.

The #ClimateCrisis is not a warning. It’s happening. I urge world leaders to ACT now. pic.twitter.com/REyXrwWT2Q

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 17, 2023

They are not the only ones pointing out who is to blame for the extreme temperatures and what is needed to be done:

Today's @nytimes coverage of the #ClimateCrisis is on point. The three top stories are about the withering heat, and the Live feed pinned post notes that the planet will "continue to grow hotter until humans essentially stop burning oil, gas and coal, scientists say." Yes — this! pic.twitter.com/KNQY6dvdNL

— Dr. Genevieve Guenther (@DoctorVive) July 18, 2023

This extreme heatwave was brought to you by fossil fuels.

For decades, oil & gas companies knew their products caused climate change.

But they lied so they could keep profiting. It's time to make them pay. 🧵

— Jamie Henn (@jamieclimate) July 18, 2023