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UN calls heat wave ‘new normal’

19 August 2023 08:44 (UTC +04:00)

Extreme heat around the world has become the new normal, said Alvaro Silva, climate expert at the World Meteorological Organization (a UN specialized agency), APA reports.

July 2023 was the hottest month on record. The heat promises to continue into August.

“This is the new normal, this is not a surprise. The frequency and intensity of many extreme events, such as heatwaves and heavy precipitation, have increased over the past decades.” Silva noted.

The organization noted that the heat will continue in Central and Eastern Europe and North America and the United States. In particular, the wildfires that have been going on in Canada since June have also been linked to abnormally high temperatures. Record heat was also recorded in China: in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the temperature was above 52 degrees.

Director of the NASA Goddard Space Research Center Gavin Schmidt said July 2023 could be the hottest month on Earth in hundreds if not thousands of years. June, according to NASA and EU services, has already broken the previous record of this month: according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it was exceeded by 0.13 degrees Celsius. The average global temperature in June was 16.55 degrees, NOAA, which has been observing since 1850, said.

The next global discussion of the problem of climate change will be held in December in Dubai – at the UN climate conference COP28.