Asia and Oceania break heat records – 01/09/2023 – Environment

Asia and Oceania recently broke temperature records, from India to Australia, passing through Japan, local authorities announced this Friday (1st), in further evidence of the impact of climate change.

The increase in temperatures was recorded after several warnings from scientists, who have been warning for many years that the planet is warming, and coincided with the heat records in countries like Greece and Canada, which are suffering from large forest fires.

In India, the world’s most populous country, authorities announced that August was the hottest and driest month since the country began recording temperatures more than a century ago.

August is the month that marks the middle of India’s annual monsoon season, which generally provides 80% of the country’s annual rainfall.

The monsoons brought fatal flooding in some areas of northern India, but overall the rains were more moderate than usual.

Data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) show that the average rainfall in August was 161.7 mm — 30.1 mm less than the previous record minimum, recorded in August 2005.

The scenario caused extreme heat in the country.

“The average and maximum temperatures in August 2023 were the highest since 1901,” the department said. “The considerable scarcity of rainfall and the fragility of the monsoons are the main reasons,” explained the IMD.

Japanese authorities also announced on Friday that the country had faced the hottest summer since the country began recording temperatures in 1898.

The average temperature between June and August was “considerably higher in the north, east and west” of the country, said Japan’s meteorological agency, which highlighted “highest temperatures for a summer” (in the northern hemisphere) since 1898.

In many localities, “not only the maximum temperatures, but also the minimum ones”, registered records.

And in Australia, the winter was the warmest on record, with an average temperature of 16.75°C between June and August. A level slightly higher than the previous record, set in 1996, and well above the average recorded since temperature records began in 1910, the Australian meteorological agency said.

More intense and frequent

Climate change has triggered increases in temperature across the planet this year, and July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.

Scientists have warned for several years that climate change causes more intense, longer and more frequent heat waves.

In addition, the increasingly warmer El Niño meteorological phenomenon could raise the level of thermometers even further, although its effects will probably only begin to be perceived within a few months.

Heat waves are among the deadliest natural hazards and each year cause hundreds of thousands of deaths from preventable temperature-related causes.

In developed countries, elements such as air conditioning can help to mitigate the impact.

But even in Japan, a wealthy country, authorities reported that at least 53 people died from the heat in July and nearly 50,000 needed urgent medical attention.

Young children and the elderly, who are less able to regulate their body temperature, are the most vulnerable to heat. People who work outdoors are also at greater risk. Even a young, healthy person would die after spending six hours at 35°C in an environment with 100% relative humidity.

Extreme heat, however, doesn’t have to reach this level to be lethal, scientists warn.

John Nairn, an expert on extreme heat at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said last month that heat waves will become increasingly dangerous.

“People are very calm in the face of the signs,” he lamented. “Science warned this would happen. And it won’t stop there. It will be more intense and more frequent.”