Too hot to handle: Is this heat the new normal?
People the world over are struggling with sweltering hot temperatures fueled by climate change. The summer’s first heatwave has a firm grip on southern Europe, parts of the US and the UK.
Temperatures in southern Spain reached 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, which is a new record for June, the national weather agency said. Barcelona has also set a new record for its hottest month of June ever recorded.
Authorities along the Mediterranean have urged people to seek shelter from the heat. France and Italy, among others, have dispatched ambulances near tourist hotspots to treat people suffering from heatstroke.
Fires fed by the heat and strong winds broke out on Sunday in France and Turkey, while Greece and Italy have also been fighting fires connected to unusually hot and dry conditions.
Last week, Chinese authorities issued their second-highest heat warning for the capital Beijing and other regions on one of its hottest days of the year so far. The World Meteorological Organziation says Asia is heating up more than twice as fast as the rest of the world due to its large landmass.
What’s the impact of heat on people and societies?
Heatwaves are the deadliest type of extreme weather globally, with hundreds of thousands of people dying from heat-related causes annually. Among the particularly vulnerable are people over 65, pregnant women, children and those with chronic or underlying health conditions.
The first early-season heatwaves are particularly deadly, since people are often less prepared and their bodies haven’t yet become accustomed to higher temperatures.
There are three main physical risks associated with heatwaves: dehydration, overheating, as well as heat exhaustion and heatstroke.
Severe heat does not only impact the body but also disrupts society as we know it. The UN’s children’s fund UNICEF says one in 5 minors — that’s close to half a billion in total — live in areas that experience at least double the number of extremely hot days per year compared to six decades ago. Many don’t have the infrastructure such as air-conditioning to help them cope.
In May, Pakistan experienced a nationwide heatwave that saw temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius in the country’s most populous province of Punjab. Several others cut school hours or started summer holidays early. Heatwaves have also disrupted schooling in South Sudan and the Philippines this year.
Equally, extreme heat impacts when people can work. Some countries in hotter parts of the world traditionally take a midday “siesta” break, and now others in ordinarily cooler places are talking about how to manage working hours when temperatures soar.
Infrastructure such as roads, railways and bridges are also impacted by runaway heat. Standard asphalt road surfaces not made for hot weather tend to rut and can literally melt, while railway tracks can buckle, and bridges can expand and deform.
How are hotter temperatures connected to climate change?
Continuing a trend, 2024 saw the hottest 12-months on record. Based on six international data sets, the WMO recently reported that every year in the past decade features among the top ten for record-breaking temperatures.
“We’ve had not just one or two record-breaking years, but a full ten-year series. This has been accompanied by devastating and extreme weather, rising sea levels and melting ice, all powered by record-breaking greenhouse gas levels due to human activities,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
