By: Angela Li
All across the globe, people are struggling to cope with the rising global warming and dangerous heat waves. Temperatures in the past few weeks have appeared to be a record high for the time of year, so governments have been trying hard to keep these heat waves in control.
However, these heat waves have been way to out of hand lately, as there have been streets out there reaching temperatures of almost 120˚F! Pictures of the Pacific Northwest have shown people escaping from the blistering hot sun through buildings called ‘cooling centers,’ buildings governments of major cities put out to help citizens escape from the heat for a little while. Many countries scattered around the world have shattered their own records, with Portland, Oregon breaking its record three days in a row.
The residents in India aren’t doing much better. After the hottest March ever recorded, residents would have to face temperatures in late April that had again set new records for India. “It was the early, prolonged, and dry heat that made this event stand out as distinct from heatwaves occurring earlier this century,” said a study involving scientists from India, Pakistan, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
The U.S. National Weather Service (or the NWS), says that over 100 million Americans are currently affected by the dangerous temperatures. The NWS has encouraged people living in these areas to stay inside if they don’t need to be outdoors.
Extreme temperatures in western Europe set record high temperatures there. It’s like a blanket covering the entire country that doesn’t allow any sunlight and heat to go out of the country. “There is good evidence that last year’s European heat wave was influenced by global warming. It resulted in 26,000 premature deaths and cost $13.5 billion,” Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdoms, had said during his climate change speech in Copenhagen.
These heat waves all across the globe have contributed to the demise of many unfortunate people, but sooner or later, governments and the NWS will find a way to stop these uncontrollable heat waves.
Citations
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/15/greenpolitics.uk
https://weather.com/news/weather/video/heat-wave-sends-european-temperatures-soaring