Wildfires, floods made this year’s summer extremely painful: WMO

Geneva: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that this year’s scorching heat, wildfires and floods will cause great damage to people’s health and the environment. WMO spokeswoman Claire Nullis said at a press conference that dangerous weather, including extreme heat and devastating rain, has affected large parts of the world. He said several new temperature records were broken around the world in July and parts of South America also witnessed a winter heat wave in early August.

The WMO said earlier this week that several countries such as France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia had set new records for day and night temperatures. Large parts of the US are also in the grip of widespread heat waves. ‘We need to focus beyond maximum temperatures, because minimum temperatures are the most important for health and critical infrastructure,’ said John Nairn, WMO’s senior advisor on heat. The WMO reports that heatwaves are one of the deadliest natural hazards, with thousands of people dying each year from heat-related causes, while the full effects of heatwaves are often not detected for weeks or months.

According to the WMO, sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea will remain exceptionally high in the coming days and weeks, exceeding 30 °C in some parts and 4 °C above average over a large part of the western Mediterranean. The effects of marine heatwaves include species migration and extinction, the arrival of invasive species, and consequences on fisheries and aquaculture. Canada is experiencing inclement weather due to wildfires.

In Canada, record wildfires continue to burn large forest areas. More than 650 wildfires were out of control as of 24 July and earlier this week the WMO said wildfires had forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents and tourists on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Evia and Corfu since 17 July. forced. Wildfire emissions have reached record levels.

Heavy rains and floods also caused severe damage and loss of life in some parts of the world
‘As the planet continues to warm, we expect to see more and more intense, more frequent, more severe rainfall events, which will also lead to more severe flooding,’ said Stefan Uhlenbruch, Director of Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at WMO ‘ WMO Secretary-General Peteri Taalas said that ‘extreme weather – a frequent occurrence in our warming climate – is having major impacts on human health, ecosystems, the economy, agriculture, energy and water supplies.’ ‘This underlines the growing urgency to cut greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and deeply as possible,’ Talas said.