Heatwaves, like the one that has been stifling western Europe this week, are becoming more frequent, and the trend is set to continue until at least the 2060s, the United Nations warned.
"[Heatwaves] are becoming more frequent and this negative trend will continue... at least until the 2060s, independent of our success in climate mitigation efforts," Petteri Taalas, head of the UN's World Meteorological Organisation, told a press conference in Geneva Tuesday.
"Thanks to climate change we have started breaking records... In the future, these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal, and we will see even stronger extremes."
Europe's heatwave this week should act as a wake-up call for countries continuing to pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, he said at a joint press conference with the World Health Organisation. about the fierce heatwave hitting western Europe.
"Emissions are still growing and therefore it's not sure that we would see the peak in the 2060s if we are not able to bend this emission growth development, especially in the big Asian countries which are the largest emitters".
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The heatwave in Europe has fuelled ferocious wildfires and has pushed temperatures in the north of the continent over 40 degrees Celsius for the first time ever.
"The question everybody's asking, looking ahead, when will this end?" said Robert Stefanski, the WMO's applied climate services chief, who predicted a peak on Tuesday for France, the UK and possibly Switzerland.
Though models show an end to the heatwave "possibly not until the middle of next week."
Europe's heat record was broken last year when the temperature hit 48.8 degrees Celceus in Sicily in southern Italy.
"Our concern is that this is happening with shorter time periods between these records," Stefanski said.
Greece's record temperature had stood since 1977 before it was broken in 2021, and similar temperatures were being reached this year, he said.
Maria Neira, the WHO's environment, climate change and health director, recalled how the 2003 European heatwave cost more than 70,000 lives, between 15,000 and 19,000 of them in France.
"This heat will compromise the capacity and the ability of our bodies to regulate our internal temperature. And this can result in a cascade of illnesses, starting obviously with heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, hyperthermia."
(with AFP)
