"What do you call it when a heatwave engulfs most of a planet? A mega-heatwave, maybe, just like now, we have mega-storms and mega-fires. Umair Haque
It boggles the mind that as a deadly heatwave expanding from the Sahara to continental Europe and into England today and peaking on Tuesday or Wednesday, the Tories are flirting with dumping all climate protection goals. But they are. No leadership contender even bothered to attend a 'game-changing' climate briefing. And Boris? He partied instead.
In the states, there is not one GOP contender for 2024 that even believes in climate change, let alone intends to act on it. Perhaps that will begin to change after this week and this summer. I'm not holding my breath.
Heatwaves are sweeping the globe; they were not expected this soon. Instead, climate projections had them occurring in the future decades. Regarding global heating, we should expect the unexpected and remember that climate changes are a threat multiplier.
China's financial hub, Shanghai ( population of 25 million), recently issued its third code red heat emergency for the summer. Ninty other cities in China have done the same. The declaration halts all construction, and other outside works, except for coronavirus workers in hazmat suits and citizens waiting in scorching lines to be tested.
In China, the earlier flooding and the heatwaves come as China fights multiple crises at once. Omicron is still a significant threat, and climate impacts devastate the nation's agriculture, and the heat kills fish, livestock, and wildlife. The current heatwave threatens crops, particularly rice, after wheat was decimated earlier by heat and flooding. Coal-dependent power grids are threatened, though the government denies that they are. The world economy is threatened as it is dependent on China.
The New York Times, Tiffany Bay and Joy Dong write:
HONG KONG — As dozens of cities in eastern and southern China issued heat alerts on Tuesday, with some temperature forecasts exceeding 104 degrees over the next 24 hours, health workers conducted outdoor coronavirus tests with packets of frozen snacks strapped to their white hazmat suits. Roofs melted, roads cracked and some residents sought relief in underground air-raid shelters.
The heat wave is forecast to persist for at least two weeks.
The scorching heat reflects a global trend of increasingly frequent episodes of extreme weather driven by climate change. In June, weeks of heat waves plagued northern China, at the same time that floods displaced millions of people in the central and southwestern parts of the country.
A museum in Chongqing displaying imperial relics from the Palace Museum closed for repairs after sections of its tiled roof melted, according to a notice on Monday. In a town in southern Jiangxi Province, state TV showed a heat-damaged section of a road arched up at least six inches, according to the Reuters news service.
Some media outlets attempt to hoodwink the UK public that the heatwave is comparable to a heatwave from 1976.
The heat wave impacting Spain for several consecutive days has killed at least 360 people, according to La Vanguardia. On Friday alone, 123 deaths in the country were attributed to the record-breaking heat.
Of the 360 deaths reported, the community of Madrid reported 22 deaths, while one 60-year-old municipal cleaning worker died Saturday during work.
In Europe, agriculture is succumbing to heat; drought has finished off northern Italy's desiccated crops while Austria lost theirs due to hail storms.
Wildfires blazed across the Iberian Peninsula and half of Portugal has been placed on an extreme weather alert as a searing heat wave oppressed Western Europe on Thursday.
Meanwhile, continuous dry weather has also contributed to Sardinia’s worst locust invasion in three decades.
The heat wave caused temperatures in Spain and Portugal to soar to 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, nearing record levels. The hottest day ever to be recorded for Portugal was 117 degrees Fahrenheit in 2003.
Over 20 wildfires burned in Portugal and Spain, and around half of Portugal was placed under a red, or extreme, weather alert. Meanwhile, Spain’s meteorological agency warned Thursday is expected to be the hottest day in the current wave.
Thousands of firefighters across Portugal, Spain and southern France fought to control the flames this week, which have destroyed thousands of acres of land and forced thousands to be evacuated from their homes.
The United States suffers as well.
We are in a planetary climate emergency. Extreme temperatures in South America have killed over one million between 2002 and 2015. There is no reason to think the toll will be any less in other parts of the world.