Greek heatwave: Seven deadly European summers

With Greece roasted by the worst heatwave in more than three decades and forest fires raging in neighbouring Turkey, we look at how Europe is being struck more often by extreme heat.

Since 2003 the continent has had to deal with seven years of fierce summer temperatures, with scientists saying climate change is likely to make heatwaves more frequent and intense.

- 2021: Greece and Turkey burn -

Greece is suffering its "worst heatwave since 1987", according to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with temperatures set to reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) on Monday and Tuesday.

Turkey, Italy and Spain have also been pummelled by intense heat, with forest fires now burning across the Mediterranean region.

- 2019: Records tumble -

Some 2,500 people were killed by two waves of extreme heat in northern Europe in June and July 2019, scientists at the CRED disaster research centre of Belgium's University of Louvain estimate.

The temperature hit 46 degrees Celsius on June 28 in the village of Verargues in southern France, smashing the previous national record set in 2003 by nearly two degrees.

All-time highs were also set during the second July wave in Britain (38.7 degrees), Germany (42.6), Belgium (41.8) and the Netherlands (40.4).

- 2018: Drought and fires -

The previous summer had been marked by intense drought across Europe, with soaring temperatures in the second half of July and early August reducing the mighty Danube River to an historic low.

Forest fires also raged across swathes of Spain and Portugal.

- 2017: 47.3 degrees in Spain -

Several heatwaves hit the south of the continent hard from June till mid-August, with Spain marking its highest ever recorded temperature of 47.3 degrees Celsius in the small town of Montoro near Cordoba.

Daytime temperatures remained above 40 degrees for a whole week.

The ensuing drought also sparked deadly forest fires, particularly in Portugal.

- 2015: June heatwave -

The heat came early in 2015 with the mercury rising sharply in late June, reaching 37 at the beginning of July in England.

The four heatwaves that hit France that year killed around 1,700 people, according to its health service.

- 2007: Central Europe bakes -

Central and southern Europe baked in a month of punishingly hot weather from the end of June 2007.

More than 500 people died in Hungary alone while Italy, Northern Macedonia and Serbia suffered from severe forest fires.

- 2003: 70,000 die -

The most deadly heatwave of recent decades hit western Europe in early August 2003 caused as many as 70,000 excess deaths, according to the European Union.

France, Italy, Spain and Portugal were particularly hard hit, with the latter recording its highest ever temperature of 47.3 degrees.

Elderly, isolated and vulnerable people suffered particularly badly, and the deaths of some 40,000 in France and Italy led to a major overhaul of how the authorities dealt with severe heat.

Experts say greenhouse gas emissions increase both the length and severity of hot spells.

Scientists at the World Weather Attribution found that the 2019 heatwave across northern Europe was made "at least five times more likely" by human affected climate change.

Heatwave hits Japan site of Olympic marathon
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 1, 2021 - Japan's northern Hokkaido region was supposed to offer cooler climes for next week's Olympic marathons and race walks, but now the area is battling a heatwave.

Olympic organisers moved the two events from Tokyo in 2019, worried that even shifting the start times to dawn would not be enough to keep athletes safe from the heat.

The summer temperatures in Hokkaido's Sapporo were expected to be kinder -- around five or six degrees Celsius cooler than Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee said.

But in the last week, temperatures in Sapporo hit over 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), and they are forecast to hover between maximums of 31 and 34 degrees over the next week, when the race walks and marathons will take place.

The mercury has surged even higher elsewhere in Hokkaido, with one town in the region becoming the first place in Japan this year to record temperatures over 38 degrees.

The men's 20-kilometre race walk takes place in the region on Thursday, followed by the women's race and the marathons for men and women over the next few days.

Temperatures in Tokyo over the coming week are forecast to range from maximums of 30 to 34 Celcius.

Heat has been a persistent concern for organisers, with a raft of counter-measures drawn up including misting stations and ice jackets.

In its bid for the Games, Tokyo argued that its summer included "many days of mild and sunny weather" and would offer "an ideal climate for athletes to perform their best," but many competitors and volunteers have struggled with the conditions.

Tennis matches have now been pushed back until later in the day after multiple complaints, with Russian player Daniil Medvedev warning "I can die" as he sweated through one match.

Organisers on Sunday defended their heat measures, but Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto admitted "this is something we need to be vigilant about."

He said 30 people involved with the Games have so far been treated for "heat illness", which organisers say is milder than heatstroke.

Those affected were mostly Games staff and volunteers, and none were in serious condition, he added

While the Games have been held in places that are hotter or more humid than Tokyo, including Athens and Beijing, Japan's sweaty summers offer both, in an unpleasant and sometimes deadly combination.

But, Muto added, "so far the counter-measures are going quite well, are successful."

Deadly summer of extreme weather as climate change bites
Paris (AFP) Aug 3, 2021 - Climate scientists have long warned that the 21st century would see more natural disasters made worse or more likely by global warming.

But a cascade of deadly extreme weather this summer in the northern hemisphere could make 2021 the year when climate predictions became a reality that can no longer be ignored.

From Death Valley-like temperatures in Canada to killer floods in China and Europe, we look at some of the worst disasters so far as the IPCC, the UN's climate change body, meets in Geneva.

- The Mediterranean burns -

Forest fires are raging around the Mediterranean from Turkey to Spain, with tourists evacuated in Italy and Greece and eight killed in the deadliest Turkish wildfires in decades.

The European Union sent three firefighting planes to Turkey on Monday as neighbouring Greece roasted in its worst heatwave since 1987.

Greek Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said "we are no longer talking about climate change but about a climate threat".

- Deluge in China -

The death toll in floods that hit China last month rose to 302 on Monday, with the central city of Zhengzhou deluged by a year's worth of rain in just three days.

Torrents of muddy water carried cars through the streets, and people were trapped in road tunnels and the subway system as the waters mounted.

- Canada's heat dome -

In late June, western Canada was caught under a "heat dome", a phenomenon causing scorching temperatures when hot air is trapped by high pressure fronts.

The country broke its record high temperature several times, finally hitting 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit) in the village of Lytton on June 30. Lytton was then mostly destroyed by fire.

The US Pacific northwest states of Washington and Oregon were also badly affected.

The exact death toll is not yet known but several hundred people are likely to have perished.

A study by a group of leading climate scientists found that the weather conditions would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change.

The World Weather Attribution group said global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions made the June heatwave at least 150 times more likely to happen.

- Deadly floods in Europe -

In mid-July western Europe was hit by devastating floods after torrential rains ravaged entire villages and left at least 209 people dead in Germany and Belgium, as well as dozens missing.

The flooding also caused damage in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Up to two months' worth of rainfall came down in two days in some parts of the region, waterlogging soil that was already near saturation.

- California wildfires -

Triggered by an alarming drought, the wildfire season is just starting in the American West where thousands of firefighters have already had to tackle more than 80 large blazes.

With 66 still burning and 3.4 million acres ravaged, President Joe Biden said at the weekend that climate change can no longer be ignored.

Some fires, including the Dixie blaze in northern California, have grown so large they are generating their own weather systems.

Marcus Kauffman, a specialist with the Oregon forestry department, said the blaze "feeds on itself" and has even been causing its own lightning.

Related Links
Weather News at TerraDaily.com

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'Dangerous' heatwave hits Athens again
Athens (AFP) July 30, 2021
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