Europe’s heatwave set to reach record levels

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Temperatures across Europe are set to hit record highs on Wednesday, forcing countries around the Mediterranean to issue alerts, close tourist attractions and step up health care for heat-related illnesses.

The European Space Agency said temperatures in Sardinia and Sicily could reach 48C, while Rome and Madrid would both record temperatures in the mid to high 40C.

Heat waves are becoming more common in all parts of the world, but Europe is warming faster than the global average due to its high percentage of land mass and its position on Earth’s surface.

The sweltering heat in the continent is the result of an anticyclonic high-pressure system named Cerberus, named after the mythological monster guarding the gates of Hell by the Italian Meteorological Society. It is expected to last at least another week and will follow the warmest June on record globally. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures in June were 0.5C above the global average.

The heat wave comes as the world also faces a change in climate patterns from El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern in the Pacific that drives warmer temperatures globally.

The heat has sparked wildfires in Greece and Spain and tourists have been warned to stay away from popular southern European destinations such as Rome and Florence. Spanish olive oil producers have warned that production could be cut by 40 percent this year due to extreme heat, causing trees to drop fruit before they fully form.

Italian health authorities declared a state of heat emergency in 20 cities on Tuesday, which will increase to 23 on Wednesday, while hospitals have been warned to prepare for a possible increase in people suffering from heat-related problems Requires immediate attention.

In Rome, where tourists struggled to find cool or shady resting places, the city’s security organization and volunteers set up 28 aid stations across the city to provide water and medical aid to those suffering from the heat.

A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health on Monday estimated that more than 61,000 people died from heat-related conditions in Europe between late May and early September last year, with Italy worst hit by the heat. Affected. Spain and Germany were also among the countries with the highest death rates from heat-related issues.

“The acceleration in warming observed over the last 10 years, underlines the urgent need to re-evaluate and substantially strengthen prevention plans, with particular attention to differences between European countries and regions, as well as age and gender differences. which currently marks the differences. sensitivity to heat,” said Hicham Achebak, a researcher at French research Inserm and co-author of the study.

Italy’s influential agriculture lobby, Coldiretti, said dairy farmers have resorted to fans and sprinkler systems to cool their animals, as they warned of a 10 percent drop in milk production due to heat stress to the animals.

It said farmers would not only face a reduction in milk production, but also increased water and energy costs as they run cooling systems “to help animals survive the heat siege”.

Luca Bergamaschi, founder of Ecco, an independent climate think-tank, said the extreme heat – just two months after Italy’s northern agricultural region was ravaged by massive floods – should be a warning to Italy’s right-wing government, which has forced many parts of I have wreaked havoc. The EU’s ambitious Green Deal to tackle global warming.

Although Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says members of her right-wing government are not “dangerous climate change deniers”, she has said that any measures to combat climate change must be gradual so as not to affect Italy’s economy and traditions. Do not fall

“The big thing they forget is that if you don’t tackle climate change, you won’t have a functioning economy,” Bergamaschi said. “Climate action is a precondition for a prosperous and functioning economy.”

He said that Lu showed the need for greater readiness in the green tradition.

“Adaptation and resilience measures should be Italy’s two main national security priorities,” he said. “The longer we delay, the more we shall suffer summer after summer, winter after winter, and spring after spring.”

Get free climate change updates

we will send you one myFT Daily Digest Latest Email Rounding Climate change News every morning.

Temperatures across Europe are set to hit record highs on Wednesday, forcing countries around the Mediterranean to issue alerts, close tourist attractions and step up health care for heat-related illnesses.

The European Space Agency said temperatures in Sardinia and Sicily could reach 48C, while Rome and Madrid would both record temperatures in the mid to high 40C.

Heat waves are becoming more common in all parts of the world, but Europe is warming faster than the global average due to its high percentage of land mass and its position on Earth’s surface.

The sweltering heat in the continent is the result of an anticyclonic high-pressure system named Cerberus, named after the mythological monster guarding the gates of Hell by the Italian Meteorological Society. It is expected to last at least another week and will follow the warmest June on record globally. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures in June were 0.5C above the global average.

The heat wave comes as the world also faces a change in climate patterns from El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern in the Pacific that drives warmer temperatures globally.

The heat has sparked wildfires in Greece and Spain and tourists have been warned to stay away from popular southern European destinations such as Rome and Florence. Spanish olive oil producers have warned that production could be cut by 40 percent this year due to extreme heat, causing trees to drop fruit before they fully form.

Italian health authorities declared a state of heat emergency in 20 cities on Tuesday, which will increase to 23 on Wednesday, while hospitals have been warned to prepare for a possible increase in people suffering from heat-related problems Requires immediate attention.

In Rome, where tourists struggled to find cool or shady resting places, the city’s security organization and volunteers set up 28 aid stations across the city to provide water and medical aid to those suffering from the heat.

A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health on Monday estimated that more than 61,000 people died from heat-related conditions in Europe between late May and early September last year, with Italy worst hit by the heat. Affected. Spain and Germany were also among the countries with the highest death rates from heat-related issues.

“The acceleration in warming observed over the last 10 years, underlines the urgent need to re-evaluate and substantially strengthen prevention plans, with particular attention to differences between European countries and regions, as well as age and gender differences. which currently marks the differences. sensitivity to heat,” said Hicham Achebak, a researcher at French research Inserm and co-author of the study.

Italy’s influential agriculture lobby, Coldiretti, said dairy farmers have resorted to fans and sprinkler systems to cool their animals, as they warned of a 10 percent drop in milk production due to heat stress to the animals.

It said farmers would not only face a reduction in milk production, but also increased water and energy costs as they run cooling systems “to help animals survive the heat siege”.

Luca Bergamaschi, founder of Ecco, an independent climate think-tank, said the extreme heat – just two months after Italy’s northern agricultural region was ravaged by massive floods – should be a warning to Italy’s right-wing government, which has forced many parts of I have wreaked havoc. The EU’s ambitious Green Deal to tackle global warming.

Although Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says members of her right-wing government are not “dangerous climate change deniers”, she has said that any measures to combat climate change must be gradual so as not to affect Italy’s economy and traditions. Do not fall

“The big thing they forget is that if you don’t tackle climate change, you won’t have a functioning economy,” Bergamaschi said. “Climate action is a precondition for a prosperous and functioning economy.”

He said that Lu showed the need for greater readiness in the green tradition.

“Adaptation and resilience measures should be Italy’s two main national security priorities,” he said. “The longer we delay, the more we shall suffer summer after summer, winter after winter, and spring after spring.”