From the Russian Arctic to France and the American south, large parts of the northern hemisphere are boiling in unusually high temperatures reminiscent of midsummer.
The Russian city of Norilsk, north of the Arctic Circle, reached 32 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the highest temperature on record in June, which ties the city's record for any month of the year.
In Japan, several cities set heat records for June with 36.1 degrees in Nobeoka, while in China the city of Turpan reached 46.5 degrees, Maximiliano Herrera, an expert who specializes in weather records, told The Associated Press.
The situation is so unusual that he has no time to eat or sleep - all he does is record the record-breaking.
In Europe, France experienced a scorching June, which brought major fires to Germany and Spain and forced Italy to declare large areas under a state of emergency because of water shortages.
In the U.S., high temperatures combined in many areas with high humidity, which prevents sweat from evaporating and makes the heat feel unbearable.
On Thursday, at least eight states reached 37.8 degrees and at least nine tied or broke historic records, according to the National Weather Service. About 30 million Americans live in areas where public warnings were issued.
Thursday's discomfort came a day after 12 states topped 38 degrees and 21 records were tied or broken. On Wednesday, the temperature in Macon, Georgia, soared from 17.8 degrees to 40.6 in nine hours.
Since June 15, at least 113 automated weather stations have measured the highest temperatures since they began operating.
The heat wave is difficult to attribute directly to climate change, but meteorologists are concerned about the new trends.
The early heat "is in perfect agreement with what we would expect in a warming world," said Victor Gensini, a professor of meteorology at the University of Northern Illinois.
"These temperatures occur while we have only 1.1 degrees of global warming and are headed for an increase of 2.2 degrees over the course of this century," noted Andrew Dessler, a climatologist at Texas A&M University.
"I really can't imagine how bad the situation will be then."
Source: in.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
