Last month was the third-hottest July on record, prompting warnings from climate experts over the stark dangers of searing summer heatwaves across the globe.
Scorching temperatures reached 1.25°C above pre-industrial levels, lower only than the two hottest July’s in Earth in the previous two years.
The latest report from EU’s climate watchdog Copernicus has shown that the planet’s surface temperature for the month stood at of 16.68°C, 0.45°C above the 1991-2020 average for July.
While this represents a slight easing of a continued upwards trend, scientists were swift to caution that a “pause” in record-breaking heat does not signal the end of climate change.
“Two years after the hottest July on record, the recent streak of global temperature records is over – for now. But this doesn’t mean climate change has stopped,” warned Carlo Buontempo, Copernicus Climate Change Service director.
“We continued to witness the effects of a warming world in events such as extreme heat and catastrophic floods in July.”
Mr Buontempo stressed that unless greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are stabilised, “we should expect not only new temperature records but also a worsening of these impacts – and we must prepare for that.”
Impact on health
A study in July led by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found around 1,500 of the 2,300 estimated heat deaths from June 23 to July 2 were the result of climate change – equating to a tripling of the number of deaths in the heatwave due to global warming.
Data from the research showed that human-driven global warming was responsible for around 65 per cent of the deaths that occurred across 12 cities, including London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Rome.
Climate change was responsible for an estimated 171 excess deaths in London, 317 in Madrid and 235 in Paris, the study found.
Most of the deaths were in older age groups, the researchers said, highlighting the growing risk older people in Europe face from dying prematurely due to longer, hotter and more frequent heatwaves.
Mercury rising in the UAE
It has proven to be a record-setting year for rising temperatures in the Emirates, mirroring the global trend.
Temperatures hit a sizzling 51.8°C on August 1 – surpassing the previous historic high of 51.4°C for the month from 2017.
The UAE experienced its hottest May on record with peak daily temperatures averaging more than 40ºC, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM).
It comes after a month when the Emirates broke May daily temperature highs for two consecutive days and followed the hottest April since records began in the early 2000s.
The National Centre of Meteorology has cautioned that August will likely continue July’s trend of intensifying heat, driven by thermal lows from the south-west.
As the mercury rises, medical professionals have urged residents and visitors to take precautions.
Speaking to The National, doctors advised that people needed to stay inside if possible during the peak heat hours between midday and 4pm, avoid strenuous activity during this time and stay hydrated.
