Record temperatures are expected all over the world on Saturday, from Europe to China to the United States, forcing the authorities to take drastic measures to deal with these heat waves and new fires, in new evidence of climate global warming.
• Also read: Heat wave in Europe: disturbing tourists from weather conditions
• Also read: Hit the world with successive heat waves
From Saturday, Italy is expected to witness, from north to south, a heat wave, with historic temperatures expected to be recorded in the coming days.
The Ministry of Health issued a red alert notice on Friday, valid all weekend, for many central cities, from Rome to Bologna, from Florence to Pescara, where the thermometer must reach 36/37 ° C from Sunday (hair 39 Celsius), before the expected peak at the beginning of the week.
In Rome, temperatures could climb to 40°C on Monday, then 42 or 43°C on Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 40.5°C set in the capital in August 2007.
North of the peninsula should not be maintained with 38 ° C expected on Tuesday in Milan.
“The continuation of climate change makes this type of situation more frequent and more intense compared to the past, including recent events,” Claudio Casardo, a meteorologist and professor at the University of Turin, was quoted by the daily Il Messaggero.
Health and medical structures across the country have already been mobilized to take care of the most fragile people and to intervene in nursing homes.
Spain, eastern France, Germany and Poland are also facing a significant heat wave.
Acropolis is closed
In the Mediterranean again, Greece is also experiencing a heat wave that has forced the local authorities, for the second day in a row, to close the Acropolis in Athens during the hottest hours.
The Ministry of Culture announced that the site classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and stormed by tourists will remain closed between 11:30 am local time (08:30 GMT) and 5:30 pm local time (14:30 GMT).
While temperatures of 40°C to 41°C are expected in Athens, “the real temperature felt […] Much higher than the body “at the top of the Acropolis, justified on Friday, Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni.
Visitors have been victims of discomfort in recent days, especially at the top of the Acropolis where they had come to admire the Parthenon.
On Thursday, the Red Cross deployed at the foot of the Acropolis to distribute “no less than 30,000 50cl bottles of water per day” and provide assistance to tourists.
Many parks and green spaces in Athens will also remain closed on Saturday, according to the decision of the authorities in Attica, the region around Athens.
North Africa is also affected. In Morocco, which has been witnessing a series of heat waves since the beginning of summer, a red alert has been issued regarding heat in several states.
Some regions of China, including the capital, Beijing, are also experiencing a severe heat wave.
Parts of eastern Japan are also expected to reach 38-39°C on Sunday and Monday, according to the local forecaster.
Getty Images via AFP
De l’autre coté du globe, le sud des Etats-Unis rôtit sous une vague de chaleur: more dizaines of millions of d’Americains of la Californie in Texas ont subi des températures dangereusement élevées vendredi, et qui devraient atteindre a pic au cours du weekend.
Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, recorded its 15th straight Friday above 43 degrees, according to the US Weather Service (NWS).
California fire
In the California desert of Death Valley, American firefighters were fighting extremely violent blazes on Friday.
For climatologist Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles, the mercury there could equal or even exceed the highest air temperature reliably measured on Earth, or 54.4°C recorded at the same place in 2020 and 2021, according to several experts.
Smoke from fires in Canada, where more than 500 fires have spiraled out of control, triggered several bouts of heavy air pollution over the northeastern United States in June.
In Greece, where violent forest fires broke out during the summer of 2021 due to an exceptional heat wave, the authorities warned of the dangers of large fires, especially in areas where strong winds are expected.
France Press agency
Globally, June was the hottest month on record, according to the European agencies Copernicus, the US NASA and NOAA. Then, the first full week of July was the hottest on record, according to preliminary data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The World Meteorological Organization said heat is one of the most dangerous weather events. Last summer in Europe alone, high temperatures killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent study.
