Northern Hemisphere reaches peak of heat waves

Temperatures exceed 40 °C in Italy, even reaching 48 °C in Sardinia, regions of Spain exceed seasonal norms by 15 °C, records expected in the United States: parts of the Northern Hemisphere The heat waves are still intensifying on Tuesday.

In Greece, where many residents were evacuated from seaside areas hit by a heat wave, firefighters tried to extinguish wildfires near Athens for the second day in a row on Tuesday.

Some 1,200 children had to leave a holiday camp on Monday due to a fire fanned by strong winds near Loutraki, some 80 km west of Athens.

In Kouvros, about 50 km east of the Greek capital, another fire broke out, spreading to Evavissos, a densely populated area of ​​Attica, 40 km southeast of Athens.

Many residents had to leave their homes on Monday evening after officials called on them to move away from the area.

The country has been suffering from a heat wave since Thursday, with temperatures in the center of its region exceeding 44 degrees Celsius.

To the west of the Italian boot, the island of Sardinia will cook on Tuesday with around 48°C forecast on the thermometer. In the south, Sicily will see temperatures of 43°C during the day.

“We live in Texas and it’s very hot there. We thought we would survive the heat, but it’s even hotter,” American tourist Coleman Peavy, 30, told AFP on Monday.

Records were not broken in Rome, but the temperature was 39°C in the shade that day.

“Under about 40 degrees Celsius, we sweat a lot,” Francois Mbemba, a 29-year-old priest from DR Congo and installed at the Vatican, told AFP on Sunday.

– Alert in Spain –

The southern part of Spain will also suffer from extreme heat, which could rise to 44°C in the Murcia region. The country is already coming out of a difficult week, but on Tuesday the alert will still remain red in Aragon (north), the Balearic Islands (east) as well as Catalonia (north-east).

According to the National Meteorological Agency, temperatures are “10 to 15 degrees” above normal. The scorching heat will continue on Wednesday as well and then it will decline from Thursday.

In Cyprus, where temperatures are expected to top 40 degrees until Thursday, a 90-year-old man died on Sunday and three other elderly people were hospitalized with heatstroke, officials said.

In Europe, temperatures are rising twice as fast as the global average, and Mediterranean countries are particularly affected, experts say.

Claudio Cassardo, a meteorologist and professor at the University of Turin, told AFP: “The hot air that usually descends on the African provinces that make up the desert has moved towards Europe. In this sense, we can talk about the tropicalisation of the climate.” Are.”

“I can’t stand the heat,” confessed Marianne, a Bucharest taxi driver.

“So tomorrow (Tuesday) I’m taking my wife and children to the mountains,” said the 51-year-old, lamenting “the times when Romania had only seasons”. Then the mercury was around 40°.

– Fierce fire in Canada –

In the United States, weather services have predicted an “oppressive” heat wave in the South and multiple temperature records.

In the famous Death Valley in California, one of the hottest places on the planet, the thermometer showed 52°C on Sunday.

Several severe fires in the south of the state led to the evacuation of the population. The largest, the Rabbit Fire, burned about 3,200 hectares of land.

Arizona’s capital, Phoenix, topped 43°C for the 18th day on Monday, matching its record high of 45°C in the afternoon.

According to the National Weather Service, several states are at risk of severe weather.

“When I only drink water, I feel dizzy, I want to vomit because of the heat,” said Juan, a 28-year-old Mexican construction worker in Texas. Keeping his name a secret, he says he needs sugary drinks and cold to “be able to walk properly”.

In Canada, more than ten million hectares of fires have burned this year, with 882 fires still active on Monday, of which 579 are considered out-of-control, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC) reported.

Officials said two firefighters died while fighting the massive blaze.

The smoke then drifted into the United States, triggering air quality alerts across much of the northeastern United States.

– Heatstroke in Japan and China –

Japan issued a heat stroke alert on Monday for 32 of its 47 prefectures, with temperatures approaching 41.1 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded in 2018.

The country is also facing torrential rains in which at least eight people have died.

Meanwhile, China on Sunday broke the record for mid-July with 52.2 degrees Celsius in the arid region of Xinjiang (west).