03:03
UK and Europe swelter as record-breaking temperatures grip the continent amid heatwave
As Europe sizzles, UN warns heatwaves will happen more often until 2060s
- The UN’s World Meteorological Organization believes that heatwaves are to become the norm during summer months
- Several countries in Europe are facing a sharp heatwave this week, with temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius
Heatwaves like the one stifling western Europe are becoming more frequent and the trend is set to continue until at least the 2060s, the United Nations has warned.
The current heatwave should act as a wake-up call for countries pumping ever more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said.
“They are becoming more frequent and this negative trend will continue... at least until the 2060s, independent of our success in climate mitigation efforts,” WMO chief Petteri Taalas told a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Thanks to climate change we have started breaking records... In the future these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal, and we will see even stronger extremes,” he added.
“Emissions are still growing and therefore it’s not sure that we would see the peak in the 2060s if we are not able to bend this emission growth development, especially in the big Asian countries which are the largest emitters.”
The WMO held a joint press conference with the World Health Organization, its sister UN agency, about the fierce heatwave hitting western Europe.
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The heatwave has pushed temperatures in Britain over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for the first time.
London Fire Brigade on Tuesday declared a major incident and urged people to stop having barbecues, as hundreds of firefighters battled blazes across the capital.
The heatwave – the second to engulf parts of Europe in recent weeks – has also contributed to deadly wildfires in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, destroying vast tracts of land.
It’s so hot in Amsterdam, that council workers sprayed bridges over the famed canals with water to keep them cool, amid fears that steel in the structures could expand and prevent them opening to let boats pass.
“And the question everybody’s asking, looking ahead, when will this end? Unfortunately, looking at all the models... possibly not until the middle of next week,” said Robert Stefanski, the WMO’s applied climate services chief.
Europe’s heat record was broken last year when the thermometer hit 48.8C in Sicily in southern Italy.
01:50
Wildfires scorch southern Europe amid record heatwave
“Our concern is that this is happening with shorter time periods between these records,” Stefanski said.
Greece’s record temperature had stood since 1977 before it was broken in 2021 and similar temperatures were being reached this year, he said.
Maria Neira, the WHO’s environment, climate change and health director, recalled how the 2003 European heatwave cost more than 70,000 lives.
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“This heat will compromise the capacity and the ability of our bodies to regulate our internal temperature. And this can result in a cascade of illnesses, starting obviously with heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, hyperthermia.”
Across the Atlantic in the United States, Americans are also enduring dangerously high temperatures that meteorologists say will last into next week.
More than 100 million people are living under excessive warnings or heat advisories this week, according to the National Weather Service.
At least – unlike in Europe – many American homes have air conditioning.
Power use in Texas is expected to break records again this week as homes and businesses crank up their air conditioners, the state’s power grid operator projected on Monday.
For those without easy access to air conditioning in New York, the New York City Fire Department said cooling centres have opened in libraries, community centres and other city buildings and that it on request is installing spray caps on fire hydrants.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters
