On Tuesday, 43 degrees were already measured in Sardinia – but not only there, the heat wave with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius makes people sweat all over Italy. Meteorologists dubbed the heat wave “Cerberus”, after the multi-headed hellhound that guards the entrance to the underworld. It will last at least until next weekend.
In Rome, rescue teams had to be called dozens of times, mostly to help the elderly. Numerous seniors have suffered circulatory collapses and fainting spells. Several elderly people suffering from acute dehydration, heart and circulatory problems or breathing difficulties were also treated in the emergency rooms of Milan hospitals.
IMAGO/ingimage/Via Imago-Images.de/Via Imago-Images.de View over Cagliari, capital of Sardinia – temperatures of over 45 degrees are expected on the Italian island
The Ministry of Health has declared a heat emergency for the larger cities. The respective preventive programs in cities must therefore apply everywhere to the elderly and people with chronic respiratory diseases, in order to avoid the increase in deaths from the sweltering heat. People are looking to cool off by the sea – there are almost no free accommodations in popular tourist destinations.
Greece before the first heat wave
Greece also has the extreme heat under control: according to forecasts, temperatures in the country should rise to over 40 degrees. In the capital Athens, maximum temperatures of up to 45 degrees can be reached on Saturday, as announced by the country’s meteorological service on Tuesday. Authorities urge caution and recommend avoiding heavy physical exertion.
debate
What to do against the heat?
Many cities and towns will open air-conditioned halls to the public so that those without air conditioning can gather there. Several unions called for Friday to be declared a day off because of the heat. However, the government has yet to comment on this. People are encouraged to work from home if possible.
Employers were asked not to subject their employees to heavy physical work outdoors. Meteorologists have yet to say how long the heat wave will last. However, they fear that the high temperatures could last up to 10 days. After all, the risk of fire is not high so far. In Greece, it rained a lot until a few weeks ago.
At night 40 degrees in Madrid
The situation in Spain is similar: just two weeks after the last heat wave, people in the south of the country are again suffering from extremely high temperatures. In parts of Andalusia, it reached 44 degrees earlier in the week. The National Weather Service Aemet has declared the highest red alert for this region, in which the main cities of Seville and Córdoba are located. Already at the end of June, 44 degrees were measured there in the shade.
APA/AFP/Thomas Coex It is very hot in Madrid right now
It was also very hot in other parts of the country at the beginning of the week – in the capital Madrid it was still 40 degrees on Tuesday night. It was a little more bearable in Catalonia with 30 degrees and in the north of the country with temperatures around 25 degrees. This second summer heat wave could only subside by the end of the week. In Spain, heat waves have become more frequent in recent years, as Aemet emphasizes.
France suffers from water shortages
Meanwhile, in France, water threatens to run out. Two-thirds of groundwater reservoirs are still not full enough, Environment Minister Christophe Bechu told broadcaster France Inter on Tuesday. In about 20 percent of the aquifers, the water level is indeed “very low”, he added. Spring precipitation did little to improve the situation, as it was largely absorbed by plants.
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Even the increasing number of thunderstorms did not change anything, as the water masses would hardly be absorbed by the dry soil. While the situation in Brittany has improved slightly, things look a little worse in Alsace, the greater Paris area, the Rhône Valley and the Mediterranean.
Last extremely dry year, 700 French municipalities no longer had drinking water. Around 72,000 hectares of land were burned and around 60,000 people had to be rescued. The government has therefore increased the fire brigade and increased the number of firefighting aircraft from 38 to 47. A reserve of 3,600 firefighters is expected to be able to be used on forest fires.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent
While individual extreme events cannot be directly attributed to a specific cause, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it is clear that extreme weather events such as floods, storms and heat are becoming more frequent and intense as a result. of the climate. crisis. That means: precipitation and storms are getting heavier, heat waves are getting hotter, and droughts are getting drier.