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It looks like the word ‘unprecedented’ is here to stay, and this time it is in reference to the climate crisis.

This past week or so, much of the Northern Hemisphere has been sweltering under an intense and unprecedented heatwave. The EU’s climate monitoring service said the world saw its hottest June on record last month.

The record heat shows no sign of abating either, with tens of millions of people battling dangerously high temperatures from the United States to Europe and Japan.

Al Jazeera reported this moment as the latest example of the rising threat of global warming.

The meteo centre warned Italians to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time”, forcing the health ministry to issue a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence. The thermometer is likely to hit 40 degrees Celsius in Rome by today and even 43C tomorrow, smashing the record 40,5C set in August 2007.

The islands of Sicily and Sardinia could wilt under temperatures as high as 48C (118F), the European Space Agency warned – “potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.

“Parts of the country could see highs as much as 44C [111F] on Saturday,” according to the national weather service EMY. The central city of Thebes sweated under 44.2C (111.6F) on Friday.

Meanwhile, parts of France, Germany, Spain and Poland are also baking under the severe heat. The meteorological agency has also warned temperatures could hit previous records in eastern Japan, where it is expected to reach 38 to 39C today.

The northern city of Akita received an unnatural amount of rain, which triggered at least one landslide and forced 9 000 people to evacuate their homes. Southern Japan, too, saw the “heaviest rain ever experienced” in recent weeks, leaving at least 11 people dead.

In Northern India, intense heat was followed by relentless monsoon rains, which reportedly killed at least 90 people. While major flooding and landslides are common during India’s monsoons, experts have commented that climate change is increasing its frequency and severity. The Yamuna River running through the capital New Delhi has reached a record high of 208,66 metres already.

The powerful heatwave is also stretching across America, from California to Texas. One of the hardest-hit states, Arizona, is battling, with the state capital Phoenix set to record its 15th straight day above 43C. California’s Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, was expected to register new peaks Sunday, with the mercury possibly rising to 54C.

Then, as Southern California and Canada are fighting numerous wildfires, the Middle East‘s water-scarce Jordan was also forced to dump 214 tonnes of water on a wildfire that broke out in the Ajloun forest in the north amid a heatwave, the army said.

Iraq has been scorched by temperatures near 50C and wind whipping through the city like a hair dryer, while the Tigris River is almost completely dry, offering no respite at all for the local people.

Scientists insist that global warming – linked to dependence on fossil fuels – is behind the multiplication and intensification of heatwaves in the world.

Don’t let the cold, rain and snow here in South Africa confuse you. As more and more greenhouse gases settle in our atmosphere due to human activity down below, the weather will become more and more extreme. That means heat waves will be hotter and rain and flooding more severe.

[source:aljazeera]