heatwave

Deadly heat waves in Mecca and Greece underscore climate crisis

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https://www.axios.com/2024/06/17/heat-waves-greece-mecca-saudi-arabia-climate-crisis

As the U.S. faces another potentially record heat wave this week, the Middle East and Europe’s Mediterranean have endured extreme temperatures that have proven deadly.

The big picture: Multiple heat-related deaths have been reported in Greece during the country’s earliest heat wave on record and Jordan’s official news agency said Sunday “14 Jordanian pilgrims died and 17 others were missing” in the searing heat while on the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Tourists outside the Acropolis during high temperatures in Athens, Greece, on June 12, when authorities announced the closure of the ancient site for five hours due to soaring temperatures that also shut schools. Photo: Hilary Swift/Bloomberg via Getty Images
  • The heat waves sweeping these regions this month have been made “at least five times more likely” because of human-caused climate change, per new Climate Central analysis.

Context: Climate Central’s analysis is based on the group’s Climate Shift Index (CSI), which compares observed or forecast temperatures with simulations of the same weather conditions minus excess atmospheric greenhouse gases, per Alex Fitzpatrick.

  • The idea is to compare real-world conditions with what might have been the case had human-caused climate change been absent.
  • Saudi Arabia had a CSI of 5, meaning that human-caused climate change made a given daily average temperature five times more likely as of Monday morning. Greece, which has endured two weeks of extreme heat, had a CSI of 5 last week and 2 on Monday. Parts of Turkey had a CSI of 5.

Between the lines: Greece has been among the worst-affected European countries for extreme weather caused by the climate crisis in recent months, enduring an intense heat wave, severe wildfires and heavy rains flooding the country’s streets last year.

  • A joint report by UN and European Union agencies found in April that Europe’s temperatures are rising about twice as fast the global average due to human-caused climate change — making it the fastest-warming continent on Earth.

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Continues at https://www.axios.com/2024/06/17/heat-waves-greece-mecca-saudi-arabia-climate-crisis

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Climate crisis made May heatwaves 1.5C hotter in India, study says

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Experienced climbers scale a rock face near the historic Dumbarton castle in Glasgow, releasing a banner that reads “Climate on a Cliff Edge.” One activist, dressed as a globe, symbolically looms near the edge, while another plays the bagpipes on the shores below. | Photo courtesy of Extinction Rebellion and Mark Richards
Experienced climbers scale a rock face near the historic Dumbarton castle in Glasgow, releasing a banner that reads “Climate on a Cliff Edge.” One activist, dressed as a globe, symbolically looms near the edge, while another plays the bagpipes on the shores below. | Photo courtesy of Extinction Rebellion and Mark Richards

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/india-heatwaves-climate-change-delhi-50c-b2558588.html

Hundreds of deaths have been attributed to heatwave that saw temperatures approaching 50C in Delhi

The unprecedented heatwaves that scorched northern and central India in May were made 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter by the climate crisis, a new scientific assessment has found.

In the last week of May, India experienced a spell of severe heatwaves, with 37 cities recording temperatures above 45C, prompting warnings of heatstroke. The capital Delhi saw a record temperature of 49.1C.

The heatwaves led to hundreds of deaths, including one voter and several workers conducting the mammoth national election, which ended after six weeks on 1 June.

The heatwaves were nearly 1.5C warmer than the hottest heatwaves the country had seen previously despite occurring later in the typical summer season, according to a report published by ClimaMeter, a research project funded by the European Union and the French National Centre for Scientific Research, or CNRS.

The study found that the heatwaves were “a largely unique event whose characteristics can mostly be ascribed to human driven climate change”.

This May was the hottest ever on record globally, completing an entire year of record-breaking extreme heat for the planet.

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Article continues https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/india-heatwaves-climate-change-delhi-50c-b2558588.html

Continue ReadingClimate crisis made May heatwaves 1.5C hotter in India, study says

South Asia sizzles: Record heatwave and extreme weather blamed on climate crisis

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https://globalvoices.org/2024/05/06/south-asia-sizzles-record-heatwave-and-extreme-weather-blamed-on-climate-crisis/#

Screenshot from YouTube video by Abhi and Niyu via Zoom.Earth. April 7, 2024. Fair use.

A scorching heatwave is ravaging South and Southeast Asia, impacting hundreds of millions with its intense heat. With April temperatures shattering previous records, the region is witnessing extreme weather patterns, wildfires, and tragic heat-related deaths. Schools have been forced to close, agricultural production and storage of perishable foods have been disrupted, and the risk of heatstroke and other health problems has risen significantly.

Climate scientist Roxy Koll tweeted:

The scientists attribute the heatwave to the diminishing influence of the 2023–2024 El Niño event, which started in July 2023.

Forest fires and heatstroke deaths in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has experienced increasingly extreme weather conditions in recent years, and April 2024 stands out as the hottest month since 1948, with average temperatures ranging from 40–42 degrees Celsius (104–107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in over 80 percent of the country.

Climate journalist Rafiqul Montu posted on X (formerly Twitter):

Wildfires erupt amid extreme heat and dry conditions

Typically in April, Bangladesh receives 130.2 millimetres of rain, however, this year, there was almost none. The government announced the closure of government schools affecting 33 million students nationwide, while private schools with better facilities transitioned to online education. In just one week of April, over 10 deaths across the country were attributed to heatstroke.

However, the most notable impact was the wildfires in different parts of the Sundarbans Reserve Forest, the world’s largest mangrove forest. Sundarbans is a remote area, lacking adequate firefighting resources nearby. The Forest Department, along with fire service personnel, local villagers, and other volunteers, could only start firefighting efforts 17 hours after the first fire. As of the time of writing this report, a significant portion of the huge fire in the Amurbunia area of the Chandpai range is still burning, posing a threat to its rich biodiversity.

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Article continues at https://globalvoices.org/2024/05/06/south-asia-sizzles-record-heatwave-and-extreme-weather-blamed-on-climate-crisis/#

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Heatwaves Sweep Across Europe

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Painting by Lady Frieda Harris used as the Hermit card in the Thoth tarot. It includes an image of Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Greek mythology..
Painting by Lady Frieda Harris used as the Hermit card in the Thoth tarot. It includes an image of Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Greek mythology..

https://bnn.network/breaking-news/climate-environment/italy-braces-for-record-breaking-heatwave-as-cerberus-anticyclone-approaches/

Italy is preparing for a fierce heatwave this week as an anticyclone named Cerberus brings temperatures close to breaking the European record. The high pressure system will cause temperatures to exceed 40C (104F) across much of the country by Wednesday, with Sicily and Sardinia expected to reach 47-48C.

This is the first major heatwave to hit Italy this year, following a spring and early summer marked by storms and flooding. The record for the highest temperature in European history was broken on August 11, 2021, when Floridia, a town in the Sicilian province of Syracuse, registered a high of 48.8C.

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A heatwave is also sweeping across France, Germany, Spain, and Poland. In Spain, where temperatures could reach up to 44C in some southern parts of the country, the Red Cross has urged people to take extra care and check on those most vulnerable to high temperatures.

The organization is calling on people to stay hydrated, avoid caffeine and alcohol, and watch for signs of heatstroke. Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet, said temperatures could reach 38C across many parts of the Iberian peninsula on Monday.

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https://bnn.network/breaking-news/climate-environment/italy-braces-for-record-breaking-heatwave-as-cerberus-anticyclone-approaches/

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