Earth just had its hottest week. Current heatwave may break records again – National

Despite weeks of record-breaking heat already, July will be a hot month as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says it is watching for temperatures to break new records. It can be a periodic month.

A heat wave that has hit the Northern Hemisphere this week is expected to intensify, with overnight temperatures set to soar, it said on Tuesday.

The WMO warned that North America, Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean could see temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius “for an extended period of time this week as heat waves intensify”.

The group said last week, based on preliminary data, the global average temperature from July 3 to July 9 was 17.18 degrees Celsius, the hottest week in the world on record.

Now the WMO says a new record could be achieved within the next few days. The highest temperature ever recorded in Europe was 48.8 degrees Celsius in Sicily in August 2021, and the world record was 56.7 degrees Celsius in Death Valley, California in July 1913, according to the report. .

“If there is a new extreme temperature record during the ongoing heat wave, we will issue a rapid preliminary assessment, and then begin a detailed assessment as part of a thorough validation process.” WMO weather and climate extremes rapporteur Randall Cerveny said in a statement on Monday:

“Climate change and rising temperatures have led to a surge in reports of record and extreme weather, especially heat. need to do it.”

Some of the record temperatures are due to El Niño events, According to WMOThis is expected to lead to even more heat on land and in the oceans, leading to more extreme heatwaves. 2016 was another very strong El Niño year.

He added that the average global temperature is determined through a combination of observations from satellites and computer model simulations.

July’s record temperature came after June was about 0.5 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, according to a report from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Agency. The all-time high broke the previous all-time high set in June 2019.

Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said Canada was no exception to recent above-normal temperatures.

He said records were recently broken in the Northwest Territories, with temperatures reaching 37.9 degrees Celsius, the northernmost such temperatures ever recorded.

Farnell said it was about 3 degrees Celsius above the previous record.

Given that summer is only just beginning, Farnell says there is no place where more heat records are likely to be broken.

Panu Sarlist of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said infants, the elderly and people with chronic diseases were at particular risk.

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Experts say more than 60,000 Europeans may have died in last year’s heat wave, despite having the world’s best early warning system.

Thurlist said on Tuesday the IFRC called on the elderly in Italy to check their health by phone, distributed drinking water in Greece and set up shelters for those affected by wildfires on Spain’s La Palma island. said it does.

John Nairn, the WMO’s senior heat advisor, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that prolonged heat, especially at night, is “particularly dangerous for human health.”

“The body cannot recover from persistent heat,” he said.

“This leads to an increase in heart attacks and deaths.”

During the heat wave, Public Health Canada advises Canadians to: some protective measuresstaying hydrated, wearing loose clothing, taking extra breaks from the heat, and avoiding sun exposure whenever possible.

— With files from Global News’ Eric Stover and Reuters

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