Beijing: Since June, temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere have continued to rise, and many countries, gripped by the most intense heatwave, have issued high temperature warnings. Forecasts show that 2023 is likely to be the hottest year ever.

“Globally, June 2023 was the warmest June since directly measured instrumental records began in 1850, breaking the record previously set in June 2022,” according to a study published recently by Berkeley Earth, a California-based research organization for climate science.

Noting that the global mean temperature this June was 1.47 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average, the organization said 2023 is “now likely to become a new record warm year (81 percent chance).”

BURNING EARTH

The globe is heating up. Simultaneous heatwaves are suffocating the United States, much of Europe and parts of Asia.

A major heatwave is forecast to hit much of the contiguous United States during late July into early August as mid-level high pressure builds over much of the western and central regions, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. Excessive heat alerts are in place in several states including California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Extreme heat warnings have also been issued across Europe since last week. In Italy, red alerts were in force from Wednesday in all but four of the country’s 27 major cities. Temperatures during the hottest part of the day were considered a threat to even young and healthy individuals.

Extremely high temperatures were recorded in at least a dozen European countries this week, including Albania, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.

Source –Xinhua