Over the past three months, the planet has been the scene of a number of extreme weather events such as Heat waves, Fires And floods this became more frequent and intense due to the global warming.
On a global scale, July and August 2023 were the hottest months on record, according to the European Copernicus Observatory (EMS), for which the current year has a strong chance of being the warmest on record.
Heat waves in the northern hemisphere
The northern summer of 2023 was characterized by temperature records. India experienced its hottest and driest August since records began more than a century ago. Between June and August, Japan experienced the warmest average temperatures ever recorded in the archipelago.
The heatwave also affected the Mediterranean and North America with temperatures exceeding 40°C.
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winter heat in the south
In the Antipodes the southern winter was exceptionally mild. The Australian winter was the warmest ever recorded, with an average temperature of 16.75°C between June and August.
Latin America experienced wintry heat waves. The thermometer exceeded 30°C in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and reached 25°C in Santiago (Chile), very unusual temperatures for the time of year. In Argentina, residents of Buenos Aires experienced the hottest August 1 since statistics began (30°C).
According to scientists, these high temperatures are the result of climate change, exacerbated this year by the recent recurrence of the El Niño phenomenon, characterized by an increase in temperature in Pacific waters and causing extreme weather phenomena.
Boiling Oceans
The oceans broke a record in August. According to the Copernicus ERA5 database, after months of historical overheating that is still ongoing, the surface temperature reached 21°C. The North Atlantic and the Mediterranean also reached records.
This warming is having devastating consequences for biodiversity while reducing the oceans’ ability to absorb CO2, increasing the vicious circle of global warming.
Although not an average, the water temperature off the coast of Florida, USA, was recorded as 38.3°C on July 24, a possible world record if the accuracy of the measurement is confirmed.
Hawaii, Canada and Greece are in flames
The American archipelago of Hawaii was ravaged by the deadliest fires in the United States in a century in August, killing at least 115 and leaving hundreds missing on the island of Maui.
In Canada, the fires caused no fatalities but were extremely devastating given the severe drought. According to the Canadian Forest Fire Interservice Center (CIFFC), 16.44 million hectares have burned since the beginning of the year, which corresponds to the area of Tunisia.
The previous record was 7.11 million hectares in 1995. At the end of June, Montreal was briefly the most polluted city in the world, lying under a blanket of smoke due to wildfires, according to specialist company Iqair.
To a lesser extent, Europe was also affected by the blazes, such as in Greece, where a fire near the Turkish border destroyed more than 80,000 hectares. Further outbreaks occurred in the summer on the islands of Corfu and Rhodes.
According to Copernicus, 535,000 hectares have burned in Europe since the beginning of the year (as of September 2nd). While this figure is above average (447,000 ha), it is still well below the record 1.21 million reached in the same period in 2017.
Photo: AFP
Deadly floods in Asia
The monsoon season killed at least 175 people in Pakistan, 155 in India and 41 in South Korea, while torrential rains killed at least 62 people in northern China.
But despite the human balance, rainfall in India has not been exceptional, hitting an all-time low in August, contributing to the country’s record-breaking temperatures.
Source: AFP
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