Extreme heat in western Europe is causing devastating wildfires in France and Spain, unprecedented drought in Italy and Portugal, and the United Kingdom recorded its highest-ever temperature of just over 40 degrees Celsius during Tuesday, at London’s Heathrow airport.
New Delhi: As the heatwave raging the entire Europe, the UN agency, World Metrological Organization (WMO) has warned that the trend is set to continue till 2060.
The agency added that the current heatwave should act as a “wake-up call” for the nations producing ever more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“The pattern is linked to the observed warming of the planet that can be attributed to human activity, raising serious concerns for the planet’s future, the UN weather agency said.
It however, added that the European heatwave may not end, until the middle of next week.
As the temperature are predicited to be above average until the middle of next week the united Kingdom at London’s
Heathrow airport recorded its highest ever. Apart from the UK, extreme heat in western Europe is exacerbating disastrous wildlife in France and Spain.
“We are expecting to see major impacts on agriculture. During the previous heatwaves in Europe, we lost big parts of harvest. And under the current situation -we are already having the global food crisis because of the war in Ukraine – this heatwave is going to have a further negative impact on agricultural activities”, warned Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the WMO at a press conference to launch the latest extreme weather findings, in Geneva.
“The negative trend in climate will continue at least until the 2060s, independent of our success in climate mitigation”, Mr. Taalas added.
Taalas noted that “We have already lost the game concerning the melting of glaciers. We expect that the melting of glaciers will continue for the coming hundreds of years or even coming thousands of years…Sea level rise will continue for the same period”.
Raising concerns over the health issue due to the wildfires, Maria Neira, Director for public and environmental health at WHO “Climate change is affecting our health in many ways, not only by heatwaves which are having direct consequences” but also other areas of essential healthcare, such as rising levels of disease”.
She explained that reliable access to food and water is at stake, as with agricultural production levels at risk”, and there will be water scarcity for sure”.
Maria Neira, said that 99% of the global population is breathing air that does not meet the health standards set by WHO, hugely impacting chronic respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.
The heatwave also acts as a kind of atmospheric lid, WHO explained, trapping pollutants, and degrading air quality, with adverse health consequences, particularly for vulnerable people such as the elderly. In the major 2003 heatwave in Europe, some 70,000 people died.
