Temperatures hit new record highs across the globe
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Scientists agree that climate disasters are caused mainly by human activity.
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Children cool off in a public fountain in Milan, Italy, on July 15, 2023. (AP)
Temperature records were set in different regions across the world, leaving behind a trail of wildfires and floods from the North all the way down to the South.
The warmest summer on record in Europe resulted in 61,672 heat-related deaths, according to research that was released last week. Italy has the highest mortality rate.
While the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the UN said the trend of heatwaves "shows no signs of decreasing" as a stark warning of the effects of global warming, the French weather service reported that several local temperature records were broken in southern France.
Local temperature records were established on Tuesday at various monitoring sites in the south of France, including those in the Alps and Pyrenees mountains, it added.
In the Alpine ski resort of Alpe d'Huez, which is located at an elevation of 1,860 m (6,100 feet), a record 29.5 degrees Celsius (85 F) was reached, according to Meteo France, while 40.6°C was recorded for the first time in Verdun in the Pyrenean foothills.
"These events will continue to grow in intensity, and the world needs to prepare for more intense heatwaves," a senior extreme heat advisor at the WMO, John Nairn, told reporters in Geneva.
Other local heat records were set in Renno in the Aups (38.6°C), the hills of Corsica (38.3°C), and Vauvenargues (37.3°C) in the far south of the country.
Robert Vautard, director of France's Pierre-Simon Laplace climate institute, said such heatwaves across Europe and the globe are "not one single phenomenon but several acting at the same time," adding that "they are all strengthened by one factor: climate change."
Rome scores new highest temperature of 41.8°C
Tuesday's 41.8°C temperature in Rome broke the previous year's record of 40.7°C. Sicily saw temperatures of around 41°C, while Sardinia saw highs of 45°C.
The Sicily and Sardinia Italian islands have been closely monitored in case they break the 48.8°C record set in Sicily in August 2021, the highest temperature ever recorded on the continent.
Many people in Italy, especially those outside of Rome where the midday heat reached 40°C, sought escape by the sea.
The health ministry of Italy has issued a "red alert" for 23 towns, including Rome, Florence, Bologna, Bari, Catania, Cagliari, Palermo, and Turin. This designation denotes that the heat is so high that it is thought to be a hazard to the health of the entire population, not just children and the elderly.
Consequently, the number of individuals seeking emergency care in hospitals across Italy for heat-related diseases has sharply increased as a heatwave continues to engulf the nation.
Hospitals overwhelmed; greatest daily number since Covid in 2020
Some hospitals reported a 20 to 25% increase in the number of patients -- most of them were elderly, some from residential homes -- seeking treatment for dehydration or other heat-related disorders in emergency rooms.
The Cardarelli Hospital in Naples, a city in southern Italy, reported that 231 individuals had accessed emergency care there over the previous 24 hours; this represents the greatest daily number since the coronavirus epidemic in 2020 and equates to one patient every six minutes.
According to Antonio d’Amore, the hospital’s director general, this is "an extremely delicate moment." While 38% of those admitted on Monday were in a fairly critical condition, 2% were in a serious state.
"Given the criticality of the moment, I ask citizens to contact the Cardarelli emergency room only in cases of real need," d'Amore said.
"We are a country with one of the oldest populations, and when age is coupled with health problems such as heart conditions or breathing difficulties, the addition of the heat creates a fatal situation," said Giovanni Leoni, the vice-president of an Italian doctors' federation.
The ministry released a circular instructing local governments to implement "heat codes" at emergency rooms as a way to prioritize care while enhancing after-hours doctor services and offering at-home help, especially to the most disadvantaged.
The number of persons seeking treatment for heat-related ailments at the nine emergency units in the area has increased by roughly 10%, according to Gianfranco Giannasi, head of emergency care at public hospitals in Tuscany. At Florence's Santa Maria Nuova Hospital, where many visitors have been seeking care, admissions were especially high.
"Compared to previous years the situation isn’t so bad, mainly because there is more awareness of the risks and therefore more prevention,” he told Firenze Post. "But problems related to the heat can be seen after a few days of continuous heat, so we are waiting to see what will happen this week."
At hospitals in the northern Veneto region and the southern Puglia region, there have also been reports of an increase in admissions or calls to emergency rooms.
Record-breaking temperatures cause torrential rain in some parts of Asia
About 260,000 individuals were evacuated in Vietnam and southern China before a typhoon made landfall late yesterday, bringing strong winds and rain, but weakening to a tropical storm by today.
In the village of Sanbao in the northwest of the Xinjiang province, China reported a new mid-July high of 52.2°C on Monday, surpassing the previous record of 50.6°C established six years earlier.
The unprecedented heat came as US climate envoy John Kerry met with Chinese officials in Beijing, reviving stalled dialogue on cutting global warming emissions.
Kerry called for "global leadership" on climate challenges in a speech Tuesday at Beijing's Great Hall of the People with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi.
What about the US?
The United States has been burned by record-breaking heat in the West and South, drenched by flood-inducing rain in the Northeast, and clogged by wildfire smoke in the Midwest.
In the US, a severe heatwave spanning from California to Texas was expected to reach its peak, with temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Phoenix, Arizona, endured 16 consecutive days with temperatures exceeding 109F, and California's Death Valley may reach a scorching 130F. Authorities issued warnings about the extreme heat, urging people to avoid outdoor activities and stay hydrated. Construction workers like Juan in Texas suffered from dizziness and nausea due to the intense heat.
A heat dome parked over the western United States raised the temperature on Sunday in California's Death Valley desert to 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53 degrees Celsius), one of the highest temperatures recorded on Earth in the previous 90 years.
On Monday, Phoenix reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit (45.5 degrees Celsius), matching a historic record of 18 consecutive days above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which is expected to last at least another week. The heatwave in the United States coincided with extreme temperatures elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere.
Temperature records have been smashed across the northern hemisphere this summer as a result of the climate emergency. Last month was the hottest June on record globally, and the first few days of July were predicted to be the hottest days ever recorded. The North Atlantic Ocean temperatures are abnormally high.
Heat records are being broken as a result of human-caused global warming, which is being exacerbated by ongoing greenhouse gas emissions and a developing El Niño phenomenon. Temperatures and extreme weather are expected to climb further until global emissions are reduced to zero. Last year, emissions reached a new high.
