International weather experts have warned that there may be very hot weather in many parts of the world throughout the coming month of August.
Accordingly, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said earlier this week that temperatures in North America, Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean region are expected to exceed 40 Celsius.
“We should expect or at least plan for these extreme heatwaves to continue through August,” Senior Extreme Heat Advisor for the WMO John Nairn told Reuters.
Southern Europe is grappling with a record-breaking heatwave during the peak summer tourist season, prompting the authorities to warn of an increased risk of health problems and even death.
Nairn also pointed out that climate change means that extreme hot weather conditions will become more frequent and spread over the seasons.
“We’re on trend in seeing a rise in global temperatures that will contribute to heatwaves increasing in intensity and frequency. We’ve got quite clear indications that they’re already growing out into spring.” Nairn said.
Accordingly, Some countries including the 27-member European Union are hoping all nations will agree at U.N. climate talks later this year to phase out the fossil fuel consumption that causes climate change. However, countries with oil and gas resources have strongly opposed this idea.
“There is very strong evidence that if we were to eliminate fossil fuels, we would reduce a major contributor to what we are seeing,” Nairn said. We can’t turn it around in a hurry, but we certainly can take action.” Nairn added.
