Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Millions face extreme heat in the US, Europe and China

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https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/global-heat-wave-weather-temperatures-07-18-23/index.html

See what it's like in Rome amid record-breaking heat
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Millions face extreme heat in the US, Europe and China

By Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Christian Edwards, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Aditi Sangal and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 12:02 p.m. ET, July 18, 2023
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4 min ago

No relief from heat in sight, according to forecast

From CNN's Jennifer Gray

As an unrelenting heat wave enters its 39th consecutive day, millions of people from California to Florida are asking: When will it end?

The long-term forecast looks bleak. For most, the extreme heat will continue for the foreseeable future, with no end in sight for the rest of the month, but there is a brief glimmer of hope for some parts of the country headed into the weekend.

An area from South Texas to Arizona to South Florida has had the worst of it and that will only continue. El Paso, Texas, has been in the triple digits for 32 consecutive days. In Miami, the record warm sea surface temperatures, combined with light winds are causing stifling heat: The heat index there topped 100 degrees or more for a record 37 consecutive days. Phoenix will break the record of 18 consecutive days at or above 110 degrees today and the streak will likely continue for at least another week or more.

Heat dome: An enormous, relentless stubborn ridge of high pressure has trapped air inside in a “heat dome” resulting in extreme temperatures as the dome parks itself over areas.

The heat will remain until a shift in the weather pattern occurs and either breaks apart the heat dome or moves it out of the country completely. That’s not expected any time soon.

Instead, the dangerous heat will continue through this week, with more records broken each day. More than 1,500 heat records have already been broken this month and another 75-plus could fall by the end of the weekend.

The Desert Southwest and Texas will continue to see daytime highs in the triple digits this week. High temperatures along the Gulf Coast and mid-South will be in the upper 90s for the rest of the week, with heat indices as high as 115 degrees. Record-breaking warm low temperatures will provide little relief in what’s typically the coolest time of the day.

Only the Southern Plains and Gulf Coast could see some relief in the coming days as the heat dome shifts back to the west and a cold front advances across the area. By the end of the week, numerous cities will at least temporarily get out of the most intense heat.

Read more here.

18 min ago

New record high temperature set in Rome, weather agency says

From CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau in Rome 

The Italian capital of Rome on Tuesday registered a new record high temperature for the city, the regional meteorological agency confirmed with CNN. 

Rome registered 41.8 degrees Celsius (107.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, one degree Celsius higher than the previous highest temperature the city saw last year in June.

29 min ago

NOAA upgrades parts of Florida Keys to highest alert level ahead of "severe" coral bleaching event

From CNN's Derek Van Dam

Fish swim around a coral reef in Key West, Florida, on Sunday.
Fish swim around a coral reef in Key West, Florida, on Sunday. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

An alert level 2 has been issued across the Florida Keys by NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch, in anticipation of a likely “severe bleaching and significant mortality” event. It comes as ocean temperatures across southeast Florida and the Florida Keys have never been this warm. 

The exceptional ocean temperatures – reaching more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas – are more than just another alarming climate record. Extreme ocean heat and its duration are critical in deciding the survival of coral reefs. Temperatures that are too hot for too long cause coral to bleach, turning a ghastly white as they expel their algal food source and slowly starve to death.

37 min ago

Extreme heat is impacting millions around the world. Catch up on the latest news

From CNN staff

Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Saronida, Greece, on Monday.
Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Saronida, Greece, on Monday. Stelios Misinas/Reuters

Heat index in Persian Gulf on Sunday neared the upper threshold of what humans can endure for any more than a few hours. Cyprus issued an extreme high temperature warning for the seventh consecutive day.

If you're just catching up now, here's what to know about the intense heat scorching different parts of the world:

The United States: Temperature-related hospitalizations have been consistent across multiple medical centers in Arizona. An emergency room doctor with Valleywise Health, which has multiple locations across the Phoenix area, told CNN: "The hospital has not been this busy with overflow since a few peaks in the Covid pandemic." The city once again hit 110 degrees Monday for a record-tying 18th consecutive day.

Greece: The battle with wildfires continues on Tuesday near the capital city of Athens and in other parts of the country. The majority of the fire service is now focusing on a large blaze that broke out late Monday in the area of Dervenochoria, north of Athens, which is still spreading and heading southwest. Large fires around the country have caused major damage since Monday, burning down houses, killing animals and destroying land, prompting authorities to evacuate many areas as a precaution.

Cyprus: The Department of Meteorology issued an extreme high temperature warning on Tuesday, marking the seventh consecutive day of such temperatures in the country. In a tweet, the Department of Meteorology said that temperatures are expected to reach up to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over Cyprus' inland areas on Tuesday, and 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) over the country’s higher mountainous areas. The extreme high temperature warning is set to stay in place until at least Wednesday evening. The warnings are issued on a day-to-day basis.

Hungary: Hungarian authorities have issued a heat alert that is set to last until Wednesday evening. Temperatures in Hungary’s capital city Budapest are reaching highs of 31 degrees Celsius (87.8 degrees Fahrenheit), while other areas in Hungary are seeing temperatures of up to 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

Iran: The Persian Gulf International Airport weather station in southern Iran registered a heat index value — the apparent “feels like” temperature to the human body — of 152 degrees Fahrenheit (about 67 degrees Celsius) on Sunday.

Global average temperature has been above previous record since July 3: The planet’s average temperature has been higher than the previous 2016 record every day since July 3 – driven in part by extreme heat waves in the US, Europe and China. While the NCEP’s data only goes back to 1979, these temperatures are “almost certainly” the warmest temperatures the planet has seen “probably going back at least 100,000 years,” Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center, previously told CNN. Extreme heat occurring in countries across the globe is "dangerous" and a "rapidly growing health risk," warned John Nairn of the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization. “Heat waves are amongst the deadliest natural hazards, with hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths each year.”

What to do in these temperatures: Stay hydrated, keep your curtains closed, take cool showers, sleep in linens and place cold washrags or ice packs on your pulse points — wrists or neck — to cool down more quickly.

Find our coverage in Spanish here.

56 min ago

Heat is an increasing focus for Paris 2024 Olympics officials

From CNN's Chris Liakos and Aurore Laborie in Paris

Eiffel Tower trinkets are displayed inside a store in Paris in November.
Eiffel Tower trinkets are displayed inside a store in Paris in November. Chesnot/Getty Images

Paris 2024 officials said Tuesday that they are closely monitoring the current heat wave in Europe and what that may mean for next year’s Olympic Games, calling it “an increasingly central topic.”

“It's something we're working on a lot. We started by looking at what Tokyo in particular was doing, as it was more used to measures against extreme heat. We're working on a number of different issues,” Chief Executive Officer of Paris 2024 Etienne Thobois told journalists earlier Tuesday.

Thobois held a press event in Paris alongside Tony Estanguet, the president of Paris 2024. He added that organizers are looking to ensure the comfort of both athletes and spectators alike.

“Since the bid, we've been working hard on these issues, because we now realize that it's becoming a certainty that there will be high temperatures in the summer of 2024 in Paris. So, we're obviously trying to organize ourselves in such a way as to be able to meet all the constraints that this will pose in terms of personal safety, athlete safety and, of course, equipment safety,” Thobois said.

“We remain very, very vigilant,” he added, noting that at the same time, balance needs to be struck when it comes to carbon footprint.

The Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

54 min ago

Climate think tank: "Every summer, we're reaching a new extreme heat record"

From CNN's Lauren Kent in London

A person cools off at the Fontana della Barcaccia in Rome on Tuesday.
A person cools off at the Fontana della Barcaccia in Rome on Tuesday. Remo Casilli/Reuters

The now yearly extreme heat records come with health risks as well as negative economic and climate impacts, according to a climate think tank.

"Every summer, we’re reaching a new extreme heat record. Impacts are felt on humans, economies and ecosystems," said Carolina Cecilio, a policy adviser at independent climate change think tank E3G. "Extreme heat is not an abstract number on a thermometer – it has serious health and mortality implications, disrupts critical infrastructures, impacts economic activities and increases the risk of climate hazards."

Record-breaking high temperatures are being reported across the world this week — the latest in a trend caused by the climate crisis. The first week of July was the hottest week on record, data shows.

"If we want our efforts to mitigate climate change to work, we cannot continue to neglect action on adaptation. One does not succeed without the other," Cecilio said on Tuesday, adding that developed countries need to deliver on their financial pledges for climate adaptation at the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai later this year.

"Together, we need to prepare for more extreme weather events, while making sure we work towards a world where we minimize global warming and its impacts," Cecilio said. "If we do so, people, economies and ecosystems around the world will become more resilient, both today and in the future."


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