Key events
Earth facing ‘unprecedented’ sea surface temperatures: World Meteorological Organization
Global sea surface temperatures (SST) reached a new record anomaly on Sunday.
The global SST of 20.98°C (69.76°F) is a record 0.638°C hotter than the 1991-2020 mean.
Global ocean heatwave alert!
Global sea surface temperatures (SST) reached a new record anomaly today. The global SST of 20.98°C (69.76°F) is a record 0.638°C hotter than the 1991-2020 mean.
This is a “code Yikes” heatwave, scientists must use the word “Yikes!” to describe it. pic.twitter.com/jcMmaebufr
— Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) July 16, 2023
This comes as the world recorded its hottest week on record – following the hottest June on record. According to the World Meteorological Organization, Earth is facing “unprecedented” SST’s and record low Antarctic sea ice extent.
It said:
The record-breaking temperatures on land and in the ocean have potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment.
They highlight the far-reaching changes taking place in Earth’s system as a result of human-induced climate change.
A firefighter has died from an injury sustained while battling a wildfire in Canada‘s Northwest Territories, becoming the second firefighter killed in recent days as blazes continue to burn in parts of the country, authorities said on Sunday.
With about 24 million acres (10 million hectares) already burned across the country, Canada is on track for its worst wildfire season on record, with blazes also raging in large swathes of eastern Canada.
The firefighter, who died on Saturday, was from the town of Fort Liard, the Northwestern Territories government said. It did not provide the firefighter’s name. Another firefighter died on Thursday in British Columbia in a separate wildfire.
– via Reuters
In case you missed it on Sunday: The Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran has reported a heat index of 152°F (66.7°C).
Colin McCarthy from US Stormwatch said:
Those are intolerable conditions for human/animal life.
The combination of a 104°F (40°C) air temperature and brutal humidity (90°F dew point) generated by the Persian Gulf, the hottest sea on Earth, has created these unfathomable conditions.
Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran reported a heat index of 152°F (66.7°C) today at 12:30 pm.
Those are intolerable conditions for human/animal life. pic.twitter.com/R3RJ9pf4DC
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 16, 2023
Talim forecast to hit southern China as a typhoon late Monday
Severe tropical storm Talim is forecast to make landfall as a typhoon in the south of China on Monday night, the country’s weather forecaster said, with local authorities cancelling flights, recalling ships and warning residents to stay home.
China Meteorological Administration issued an orange alert for Talim on Monday, saying the storm was expected to increase in intensity into a severe typhoon by the time it made landfall along the southern coast from Guangdong to Hainan.
A man walks past a shopping mall with masking tape in Tseun as a precaution for the approaching Typhoon Talim in Hong Kong on July 16, 2023. (Photo by May JAMES / AFP) (Photo by MAY JAMES/AFP via Getty Images) Photograph: May James/AFP/Getty Images
China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system under which orange is the second highest alert. Talim is set to be the fourth typhoon this year but the first to make landfall in China, according to weather predictions.
Early on Monday, the meteorological centre said Talim was located 375km (230 miles) south-east of Zhanjiang City in Guangdong province, moving at a speed of 20km per hour (12 miles per hour).
Markets in Hong Kong halted trade for the day as its observatory put in place storm signal No. 8 for Talim, while all court hearings in the city were adjourned.
The meteorological centre forecast gale force winds in the seas near the southern provinces and regions and exceptionally heavy rains of 250-280mm (9.8-11 inches) in the southwestern coast of Guangxi and northern Hainan Island.
Hainan’s Marine Forecasting Station also warned of waves of up of six metres (20 feet) south of the tourist island, Xinhua reported.
Boats are parked at a typhoon shelter in Tseun Wan as a precaution for the approaching Typhoon Talim in Hong Kong on July 16, 2023. (Photo by May JAMES / AFP) (Photo by MAY JAMES/AFP via Getty Images) Photograph: May James/AFP/Getty Images
Zhuhai Jinwan Airport in Guangdong cancelled 43 inbound and 36 outbound flights on Monday, while Meilan International Airport in Hainan’s capital city Haikou and Qionghai Boao Airport cancelled all flights, state media reported.
Haikou city will also suspend classes, work, flights, park and business activities from noon Monday, requiring residents to stay home and opening emergency shelters to the public, state television CCTV reported.
– via Reuters
South Korea flood death toll rises to 39 as Yoon orders all-out effort
epa10750658 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a disaster response meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, 17 July 2023, to deal with torrential rains hitting the country and minimize possible damage. EPA/YONHAP / POOL SOUTH KOREA OUT Photograph: YONHAP/EPA
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered on Monday an all-out effort to handle the devastation caused by days of torrential rain, as the death toll grew to 39 on Monday, including a dozen people found dead in a submerged underpass.
The rains have pummelled the country’s central and southern regions since Thursday, as the rainy season starting in late June reaches its peak, with the interior ministry also reporting nine people missing and 34 injured.
epa10750614 Rescue workers pump water out of a flooded underground tunnel in the town of Osong, North Chungcheong Province, central South Korea, on 17 July 2023, as they search for missing people who are believed to have been submerged inside the tunnel after a nearby river overflowed due to heavy rain on 15 July. EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT Photograph: YONHAP/EPA
Among the casualties, 12 deaths occurred in a tunnel in the central city of Cheongju, where some 16 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood on Saturday after a levee of a nearby river collapsed. Nine others were hurt.
Yoon convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and called for authorities to make the utmost effort to rescue victims and vowed support for recovery work, including designating affected areas as special disaster zones.
Extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused climate change across most of the world, because warmer air can hold more water vapour.
You can read the latest here:
– with Reuters
Welcome summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the extreme heat gripping large parts of the planet. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be following the latest as Southern Europe braces for a second heat storm in a week while in America, more than 100 million people swelter under extreme heat advisories, with record-breaking heat expected to continue. Meanwhile there are deadly floods in South Korea and heat warnings in Japan.
Here is where things stand:
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Italy, Greece and Spain, along with Morocco and other Mediterranean countries, have been told temperature records could be broken on Tuesday.
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A new anticyclone that pushed into the region from north Africa on Sunday could lift temperatures above the record 48.8C (120F) seen in Sicily in August 2021, and follows last week’s Cerberus heatwave.
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Temperatures in Rome are poised to climb to 42C or 43C on Tuesday. Nighttime temperatures remain above 20C, making it a struggle for people to sleep.
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On the Canary island of La Palma, more than 4,000 people were evacuated from properties after a forest fire swept through the north-west of the island.
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In the US there were advisories from coast to coast on the weekend, with the south-west and parts of the west hard hit and officials warning that conditions could get worse in Arizona, California and Nevada.
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In Phoenix, Arizona, the forecast for Sunday was for 118F (47.7C) and it was expected to be the city’s 17th consecutive day of 110F (43.3C) or higher.
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Emergency room doctors in Las Vegas have been treating more people for heat illness as the heatwave threatened to break the city’s all-time record high of 117F (47.2C).
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The hot, dry conditions sparked a series of blazes in southern California south-east of Los Angeles.
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In Japan, authorities issued heatstroke alerts to tens of millions of people in 20 of its 47 prefectures as near-record high temperatures scorched large areas and torrential rain pummelled other regions. Japan’s highest temperature ever – 41.1C first recorded in Kumagaya city in 2018 – could be beaten, according to the meteorological agency.
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In South Korea, nine people died in a flooded tunnel, after heavy rains for the last four days triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 37 people and left nine missing. The country is at the peak of its summer monsoon season, with more rain forecast through Wednesday.
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China on Sunday issued several temperature alerts, warning of 40-45C in the partly desert region of Xinjiang, and 39C in southern Guangxi region.
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The human-caused climate crisis is supercharging extreme weather around the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters, from heatwaves to floods to wildfires.
