Authorities in several countries have already activated alerts by strengthening specialized health and police services to improve support for people in need.
United Nations agencies monitor the impact of trecord temperatures in several regions of the northern hemisphere and warn that the situation is still in its infancy.
Experts recommend people stay hydrated, try to stay as cool as possible, and heed warnings issued in countries with high levels of extreme heat close to 40°C.
Health and climate experts warn that heatwaves with deaths are the new reality in Europe
(Photo: Getty Images)
Worse than current conditions
OR the climatologist Álvaro Silvaof the World Meteorological Organization, WMO, told UN News from Lisbon that the scientific community is following two trends that can exacerbate the heat wave.
“One, which is related to this specific event, and which explains why this heat wave is happening. And the other, more long-lasting, which has to do with potential causes that could facilitate the increasing frequency and increased intensity of heat waves.
As for the former, we have different regions in the world where we currently have hot flashes: southwestern United States, southern Europe and northern Africa, and even the Mediterranean Basin. And then again in Central Asia we have temperatures way above normal. I would say these are the three regions where we have seen temperatures that are much higher than usual.”
The climate scientist highlighted the urgency of action regionally and globally to effectively address the threat of the climate crisis.
In Europe, more than 61 thousand deadthey were recorded due to last year’s heatwaves.
WMO climatologist Álvaro Silva explains the reasons for such intense heat waves
in the summer of 2023 in the Northern Hemisphere
climate change
“This happens because we have about the three high pressure regions, with strong pressure anomalies at different levels of the troposphere. Which means it will later lead to air subsidence in various regions. With this yielding there is a heating of this air which then reaches the surface and therefore causes very high temperature values. another factor [para explicar as ondas de calor] it is related to the transport of warm air from subtropical latitudes to higher, mid-latitudes, for example, from southern Europe. These two factors are the biggest contributors to this heat wave.
Then we have, as I said, the long-term environment situation, which is related to the man-made climate change.”
There are records of deaths and forest fires in areas of Europe with extreme temperatures.
Fearing for public health, authorities in several countries have already done so alerts, strengthen specialized sector and police services to improve support for people in difficulty.
“Often the hot flashes lead people who already have weaknesses to suffer even more than the rest of the population, in terms of cardiovascular, respiratory and other diseases. Even the healthiest population can suffer, perhaps not so much from the point of view of mortality as from the adverse effects. But especially those who are exposed to heat during the hottest hours of the day can experience it.
So this prolonged exposure during the day should be avoided. And at night also try, in some way, to limit the effects of the higher temperature, which is noticeable in houses, by drinking plenty of water and trying to cool off as much as possible”.
Adjusting to the “new reality”
In addition to the WMO, the World Health Organization, WHO, has spoken in Europe about the need to do this adaptation to the “new reality” of heat waves with deaths and that other episodes of extreme weather conditions are taken into account.
The WMO is conducting an investigation into the intense heat and level of air circulation in the atmosphere.
The agency plans to complete a study in the next two months revealing the possible association of current heat waves and the effects of climate change on the planet.
Source: United Nations News
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