Concerns grow as North America experiences warmest June on record
North America experienced its warmest June to date with several cities in the U.S. and Canada recording a full 5 degree Celsius temperature rise above previous records, according to EU Earth observation program Copernicus.
Despite a slew of rain and cloud in the UK last month, it was the second warmest June on record for Europe. It was also the fourth warmest June ever recorded worldwide.
A heatwave in Siberia last year saw temperatures rise 5 Celsius higher than previous levels recorded between January and June.
A Met Office study on the extreme heat in the Russian region found that rises in temperature were due to human-caused climate change.
Professor Peter Stott of the UK Met said the increase in heat waves isn’t shocking. However, the way in which temperature records are being broken is.
Meanwhile, Professor Friedericke Otto of the University of Oxford believes that the impact of heat waves isn’t being taken seriously enough and refers to them as ”silent killers.
“People rarely drop dead on the street, but die quietly in their poorly insulated and un-air-conditioned homes, ” she said.
Otto stressed that alongside cutting greenhouse emissions, communities should also be able to survive in higher temperatures in the future.