Global Heat Storm
Typically, our Extreme Weather Stories focus on a specific weather event affecting a particular place, trying to surface the experience of people (and more-than-humans) affected. But, of course, climatic events are fluid and cover more than one area, so we need to zoom out sometimes. Especially now that so much of the planet is experiencing a Global Heat Storm, exacerbated by the intersection of El Nino and Global Heating. 2023 is becoming the hottest year on record, warmer than it’s been for 100,000 years. 100s of millions of people are currently affected.
What’s happening now?
Here is a summary from the live Guardian news report of the latest developments:
- Parts of Europe, Asia and North America are preparing for scorching heat on Monday that threatens to break records, drive wildfires and has prompted health warnings and evacuations.
- Europe could record its hottest-ever temperature this week on Italy’s islands of Sicily and Sardinia where a high of 48C (118F) is predicted, the European Space Agency said.
- The US National Weather Service warned a “widespread and oppressive” heatwave in southern and western states was expected to peak, with more than 80 million people affected by excessive heat warnings or heat advisories on Sunday.
- California’s Death Valley, often among the hottest places on Earth, reached a near-record 52C on Sunday. Southern California is fighting numerous wildfires.
- Japan has issued heatstroke alerts affecting tens of millions of people, as near-record high temperatures hit several parts of the country, with other areas pummelled by torrential rain.
- South Korea’s president has vowed to “completely overhaul” the country’s approach to extreme weather from climate change, as the death toll from flooding and landslides rose to 40.
- The UK’s met office said that China had provisionally recorded its highest temperature ever on Sunday. It said Sanbao, in western Xinjiang region, reached 52.2C. The met office did not provide a source for the temperature, which was not reported by Chinese state media.
- Global sea surface temperatures (SST) reached a new record anomaly on Sunday. The global SST of 20.98C (69.76F) is a record 0.638C hotter than the 1991–20 mean. This comes as the world recorded its hottest week on record — following the hottest June on record.
- The US’s climate envoy John Kerry said it was “imperative that China and the United States make real progress” in the four months before the Cop28 global climate talks in Dubai, as he met his counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in the Chinese capital on Monday. He also urged China to partner with the US to cut methane emissions and reduce the climate impact of coal-fired power.
- Severe tropical storm Talim is forecast to make landfall as a typhoon in the south of China on Monday night, the country’s weather forecaster said, with local authorities cancelling flights, recalling ships and warning residents to stay home.
These impacts read as a list — as just a series of events happening now in places. But, each event represents major damage which will decrease the capacity of Earth systems to stabilise themselves. Burned forests do not absorb C02, and contribute C02 and other pollutants with their burning. This extreme heat is potentially causing a catastrophic reduction in food production, which will worsen nutrition insecurity this year, and reduce the productive capacity of soil in the future.
Voices of experience
It’s important that we hear experiences of people in the frontlines of climate impacts intersecting with ecocidal extraction projects and the legacies of colonialism.
A Facebook post from Geethika Venkatesan (with Yadhumadi Ru) gives a summary of (some of) what is happening and their perspective on it:
In this earth created by God as well as in the natural environment we should live by taking what we need from nature, but if we get greedy and destroy all the natural resources in a hurry then the next generation will not have food to eat. Water to drink, clean air to breathe and natural ecosystems to support the human system and Nature Eco system to survive!
All over the world, due to changes in the natural climate and changes in the monsoon rainy season, due to heavy rains, hot winds and high temperatures, countries with high temperatures, other regions and large cities, developed countries and all places are recording more of the following!
- Nature’s bursting Fury !
- Climate Change Crises
- End Fossil Fuels Now
- Loses due to pollution
- Global Warming
- Climate Crisis
- The Planet is Burning through humans limitless urban modern civilization
___Heavy rainfall in South Korea during the ongoing monsoon season has triggered widespread flooding and landslides.
__Due to the heavy rain and flooding, roads were closed, and trails in national parks were shut down.
__Millions of people faced dangerously high temperatures on Saturday across the globe, including the United States, as experts forecasted record heatwaves in Europe and Japan.
__The weather centre gave a warning to Italians to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time”.
___warned the European Space Agency calling it “potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.
___Greece’s top tourist attraction, Athens Acropolis, will remain closed on Sunday during the hottest hours for the third consecutive day.
___Hundreds of flights were grounded due to strikes by airline and airport staff and thousands of travellers were left stranded in the sweltering heatwave of Europe. Around 1,000 flights, both domestic and international, were cancelled in Italy, because of the strike by ground crew,
___In India several states and including several key Delhi areas continue to remain flooded and the condition worsened with a fresh spell of heavy rain on Saturday. The fresh spell of rain caused the water level of the Yamuna river to increase further, as reported by the news agency ANI. The water level of Yamuna at 6 am stood at more than 286.14 metres, as reported by Central Water Commission.
#climatecrisis #climatechange #ClimateAction
#pollution #globalwarming #fridayforfuture
Geethika Venkatesan
13 Years Old, International Young Climate and Environmental Activist and Global Climate Awareness Campaigner
Just imagine your future Sky Scrapping buildings, high speed Rails and Roads, Car and Sophisticated Vehicle Transportation, High modern Civilization Urban infrastructures — Will all this stay with us forever or will all this survive us ?
#saveplanet with Yadhumadi Ru.
We very much welcome complete articles to publish here. These might describe your experience, share the ways that communities are coping, make demands of politicians and companies, or express yourself in any way. They might be jointly authored or singly, and might be photo-essays, or writing, in poetry or prose.
Get in touch on climatemuseumuk@gmail.com
Misinformation, denial and predatory delay
One reason we started this #ExtremeWeatherStories project was to expose how extreme weather was reported. It is only recently that anomalous weather is connected to climate breakdown, and even so, many channels, including the BBC, fail to mention it.
In the USA, where denialism is rife and supported by fossil fuel lobby groups like the Koch Foundation, weather reporters who mention climate breakdown and AGW are threatened. For example, Chris Gloninger is receiving death threats.
Despite these extreme and deadly weather events hitting us all, some worse than others, the Big Oil companies are peddling back on their already inadequate pledges to scale back fossil fuel production. Instead they should be using all of their resources to convert production to renewables and to enable communities to adapt, starting with those most affected.
Please get in touch with any pieces you would like to share here about extreme weather experiences and media reporting on climatemuseumuk@gmail.com
