On the 13th (local time), women are walking while fanning themselves on the streets of Seville in southern Spain, where an early heatwave continues. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The world is suffering from early heatwaves caused by climate change. France has banned outdoor activities in some areas, and the United States has advised residents to refrain from going outside, as countries around the world face unprecedented heatwaves.
According to the UK BBC and others on the 17th (local time), the daytime high temperature in some parts of France exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. This is the earliest heatwave to hit France in a year since 1947.
Accordingly, some city authorities have banned outdoor activities. In Bordeaux, Gironde Province, where daytime temperatures rose to 39 degrees, outdoor events such as concerts and large public gatherings have been canceled from that day until the heatwave ends. Indoor events are also prohibited in places without air conditioning.
The UK also recorded its highest temperature of the year on the same day. According to the AP News Agency, the temperature at Heathrow Airport near London reached 32 degrees Celsius. As a result, the Meteorological Office raised the "heat health warning" to level 3 out of 4 in some areas.
Abnormal high temperatures are also occurring in various parts of the United States. In Kansas, a heatwave exceeding 37.7 degrees Celsius continued from the 11th to the 13th. Temperatures that had previously remained around 21 to 26 degrees suddenly soared. Heat advisories and heat warnings were issued for the southeastern US along the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, and eastern Carolina. Accordingly, the US National Weather Service advised residents in these areas on the 15th to avoid going outside as much as possible. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center forecasted that temperatures across the US would remain above average throughout this summer.
Earlier, unseasonable heatwaves occurred from April in southern India and southern Spain. On the 23rd of last month, Bloomberg reported that daytime temperatures in southern India exceeded 50 degrees Celsius. The average daily high temperature in Pakistan, where some cities reached up to 51 degrees, was 45 degrees in May. The Andalusia region in southern Spain recorded daytime temperatures of 40 degrees, 10 to 15 degrees higher than average.
According to the UK Met Office, the likelihood of heatwaves in northwestern India and Pakistan has increased more than 100 times. Unlike in the past when heatwaves like those in April and May this year occurred once every 312 years, they now occur once every 3.1 years. By the end of the 21st century, severe heatwaves could occur almost every year (once every 1.15 years).
Meanwhile, experts say this temperature rise is a direct and clear result of climate change. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are released in large quantities into the Earth's atmosphere, trapping solar heat and raising the Earth's temperature. Claire Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva, stated that heatwaves are starting earlier as a result of climate change.
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