Many places around the world are experiencing high temperature and heat wave weather (international perspective)

Reporter Shen Xiaoxiao

The World Meteorological Organization announced on July 7 that El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean for the first time in seven years, which could lead to soaring global temperatures and the emergence of damaging weather and weather patterns. According to the Associated Press reported on the 4th, the global average temperature has been at a historical high for 7 consecutive days, and after the "hottest day in the world" on the 6rd and 3th for two consecutive days, the average temperature value on the 3th was the same as on the 4th, reaching 5.4 degrees Celsius.

At present, high temperature heat waves are sweeping the northern hemisphere, and many places around the world have successively set new high temperature records. Experts say that in the context of global warming, superimposed on El Niño events of moderate or higher intensity may lead to more frequent, wider range and stronger extreme weather. WMO Secretary-General Petri Taalas called on countries to provide early warning and respond in advance to mitigate impacts on human health, ecosystems and economies.

The high temperature weather in many places set new records

Recently, many places in Asia have set new records in hot weather. In recent days, Bangladesh has been hit by a heat wave, and the maximum temperature in the capital Dhaka has soared above 40 degrees Celsius. The country's education authorities have asked primary schools to be closed for a period of time throughout the country. Due to the surge in electricity demand and fuel shortages in power plants, there have been frequent widespread power outages across the country recently, with some areas running as long as five hours a day.

The maximum temperature in many Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar and Thailand generally exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, and the temperature in the western province of Mak once reached a record 44.6 degrees Celsius; Laos and Vietnam recorded high temperatures of 43.5 degrees Celsius and above 44 degrees Celsius respectively. According to media reports, extreme heat has placed an "unprecedented" burden on India's agriculture, economy and public health.

North America also experienced high temperatures. The U.S. Weather Service said recently that much of the southern United States is experiencing its worst heat so far this season. The combination of high temperatures and high humidity has made the heat index in many places in the United States reach "dangerously high". Temperatures in cities such as Del Rio have repeatedly exceeded 43 degrees Celsius in a single day, and persistent heat has killed at least 17 people. Sarah Kapnik, a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that on the 5th local time, 3800 million Americans were under a high temperature alert.

Affected by the heat wave, Canada was hit by the "worst in history" wildfires. Although there were cooling rains in some areas in mid-June, the fires eased slightly, but recently most areas returned to hot and dry, exacerbating the wildfire situation again. According to estimates by the European Union's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitor, Canadian wildfires this year are equivalent to emitting 6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more than 1/6 of the total carbon emissions caused by global wildfires in 2022.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service, the EU's climate monitoring agency, said in a report that the 2022 climate crisis has had a "dire" impact on Europe, with widespread heatwaves leading to one of the hottest summers on record, drought hitting tourism and agriculture hard, and the region is expected to experience drought in 2023.

The Met Office said on July 7 that June was the hottest June on record in the UK. In Spain, 3 provinces in eight autonomous regions have issued high temperature warnings, with daytime highs exceeding 6 degrees Celsius, and in some places temperatures reaching as high as 6 degrees Celsius. France, Italy and other cities have declared a state of high temperature emergency. Northern Italy is severely arid, and the lake storage of the Po Basin, the longest river in Italy, has fallen to about 8% of the previous annual average, and some sections of the river have completely stopped flowing.

For the record-breaking global average temperature data, Robert Rhodes, a geoscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said that this is the result of a combination of climate change and El Niño, and "hotter weather will follow." Otto, a climate expert at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment in the UK, believes that this is a serious warning to people and ecosystems.

El Niño may trigger more hot weather

The updated report released by the World Meteorological Organization puts the probability of an El Niño event between July and September 2023 and lasting until the end of the year at 7%, combined with model projections and expert assessments in many parts of the world, at least of moderate intensity.

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with warming ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Oceans. It occurs on average every 2 to 7 years and usually lasts 9 to 12 months. El Niño causes weather variability in various places, such as flooding in areas that are usually arid and rainless, and droughts in rainy areas.

Due to the early appearance of this year's El Niño, there is a lot of room for development, such as the development of a strong El Niño, which may bring a new peak in global temperature. The latest report released by the World Meteorological Organization on May 5 predicts that at least one of the five years between 17 and 2023 will break the high temperature record set in 2027, with a 5% chance. The group also said that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, global warming will be even greater, and what it is experiencing so far is only a "harbinger of the future." Due to the dual impact of El Niño and human greenhouse gas emissions, the possibility of breaking temperature records in many places around the world this year and next has greatly increased.

A previous study published in Nature showed that climate issues are expected to increase dangerous heat index levels by 50 to 100 percent in much of the tropics, and up to 10 times in most parts of the world. According to the World Health Organization, at least 2022,1 people died in hot weather in Europe alone in 5. Many less developed and developing countries are located in regions with higher temperatures and their economies are more vulnerable to shocks. The ILO predicts that extreme heat will reduce global working hours by more than 2030% by 2, equivalent to the loss of 8000 million full-time jobs and $2.4 trillion.

"The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly severe and the number of people displaced across borders is increasing rapidly." Ian Fry, the UN's independent human rights expert on climate change, said that 2020.3070 million people were displaced by weather-related events in <> alone, and "temperatures will rise unless significant action is taken to reduce emissions significantly." ”

There is an urgent need to accelerate climate action

To address the climate challenge, action to reduce emissions is urgent. According to a previous report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global temperatures are now 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. On current trends, the Earth's temperature will increase by 2.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. If global temperature rise is to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, all sectors will need to make a full, rapid and sustained reduction in greenhouse gas emissions within 10 years.

According to a recent study published in the British journal Nature Sustainable Development and carried out by the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, about 90% of the world's excess carbon emissions come from developed countries such as the United States, which should pay a total of $170 trillion in compensation to low-carbon countries, of which the United States needs to pay $80 trillion in compensation, so as to ensure that the relevant goals of climate change can be achieved. Experts generally agree that increased funding and technology investment is essential to address the climate challenge. Climate action can only be accelerated if current climate finance is fully scaled up.

To this end, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called on countries to take action on climate issues, urged developed countries to fulfill their pledge to provide US$1000 billion a year to developing countries, and proposed a practical roadmap for doubling financing for adaptation. In particular, he stressed the need to scale up investment in adaptation and resilience at scale, especially in the most vulnerable countries and communities least responsible for the climate crisis. Kenyan President William Ruto recently called for the creation of a "global green bank" to help developing countries mitigate the effects of climate change rather than further exacerbate their already unsustainable debt levels.

Meteorologists say that global warming is an important driver of the increase in the frequency of extreme weather phenomena. Countries need to prepare for more frequent and intense climate disasters; At the same time, we should strengthen international cooperation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the early warning mechanism for extreme weather, and jointly address the challenge of climate change. "The Earth is rapidly approaching the tipping point of climate change. To respond to this crisis, humanity must cooperate. Our world needs to take holistic climate action on everything, everywhere, at once. Guterres said. (People's Daily)