Global Temperatures Soar As US And China Renew Climate Talks

With experts warning that the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is slipping out of reach, evidence of the crisis is evident worldwide.

MADRID: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-July 17^th, 2023) The world's two largest carbon emitters, the United States and China, aimed to revive climate change talks on Monday as global temperatures soared to unprecedented levels.

With experts warning that the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is slipping out of reach, evidence of the crisis was evident worldwide.

Sanbao, a remote town in China's arid northwest, recorded a national record temperature of 52.2 degrees Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit). Meanwhile, wildfires continued to rage across Europe ahead of a second heat wave within two weeks, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 48 degrees Celsius. In the United States, nearly a quarter of the population faced extreme heat advisories, partly due to a persistent heat dome affecting western states.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, tweeted that "today is predicted to be the hottest day on record in many parts of the world." Urging immediate action from world leaders, he emphasized that the climate crisis is not merely a warning but a reality.

Before meeting his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in Beijing, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry called on China to collaborate with the United States in reducing methane emissions and transitioning away from coal-fired power. Prolonged high temperatures in China are endangering power grids, crops, and raising concerns of a repeat of last year's severe drought, the worst in six decades. Typhoon Talim also posed a threat, strengthening as it approached China's southern coast and leading to flight and train cancellations in Guangdong and Hainan regions.

South Korea experienced devastating consequences as torrential rains caused river levees to collapse, resulting in flash floods that claimed the lives of 40 people.

Last year, Seoul witnessed its heaviest recorded rainfall. Europe faced the possibility of breaking its highest recorded temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius, potentially on the Italian island of Sardinia, attributed to an anticyclone nicknamed Charon.

The rising temperatures pose significant risks, particularly for individuals like Matilde and Angelica Aureli, teenage sisters from Rome with albinism. They can only venture outside after 9 p.m. during extreme heat due to their condition. Matilde expressed concerns, saying, "In the summer, it is getting hotter year by year... it's actually very scary as an experience because for people with albinism, the sun keeps getting worse."

Spain also faced soaring temperatures, with some regions expecting highs of up to 44 degrees Celsius and nighttime temperatures not falling below 25 degrees Celsius, increasing the risk of wildfires. However, a forest fire on La Palma island in the Canary Islands, which led to the evacuation of 4,000 people, was gradually being brought under control as temperatures subsided.

The heat dome in the western United States generated heavy rains in the northeast, resulting in at least five fatalities. Heat warnings extended as far as Florida. Tourists gathered in California's Death Valley, hoping to witness the hottest recognized temperature on Earth, which was 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius) recorded in 1913. Carlo Buontempo, director of the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, stressed that heatwaves were becoming more frequent, affirming scientists' predictions.

“We are already in uncharted territory,” Buontempo remarked, emphasizing that the unprecedented heatwaves represent an unprecedented situation in living memory and history.