The heat wave that hits Europe generated a new record in the United Kingdom, where for the first time the thermometer exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. A phenomenon that keeps countries such as Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Romania and Portugal, among others, at high temperatures. In addition to thirst and overwhelm, high temperatures raised protests against Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is accused of not taking the phenomenon seriously for not attending an emergency meeting about the heat wave, but showing up at a party. The doctors also condemned comments by the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, who called on Britons to “enjoy the sun.”
But more than enjoyment, alarm was generated, since several transport services have been suspended, such as the underground Metro, air flights and buses. While firefighters work nonstop to deal with the fires unleashed by high temperatures.
The increase, according to scientists, is a direct consequence of the climate crisis, since greenhouse gas emissions increase in intensity, duration and frequency. The UN yesterday called for an “awareness” of the leaders in the face of heat waves, such as the one currently plaguing Western Europe and which will become increasingly frequent due to climate change.
“These heat waves are becoming more and more frequent due to climate change” and will multiply in the coming decades, declared the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ), Petteri Taalas, at a press conference in Geneva, headquarters of the organism. In Spain, where the extreme heat wave began nine days ago, forest fires persisted, especially in the province of Zamora, and almost 6,000 people were evacuated. In Belgium, two nuclear reactors near Antwerp have more than halved their output to limit the temperature of water discharged into nearby rivers.
This puts countries such as France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy at risk of seeing their agricultural yields reduced, the European Commission warned.
While in Germany and Italy the temperature rises.