The extreme heat wave has engulfed the whole of Europe and the United Kingdom which the meteorologists have termed as an “apocalypse”.
Ferocious wuthering wildfires and exuberant high temperatures have left hundreds of people dead as the heatwave is supposed to continue for another ferocious week.
About 748 deaths were reported from Portugal and Spain after the temperatures topple 117 degrees only in the month of July whereas the hottest temperature of the region was recorded in Wales where it was 95.5 degrees on Monday stated the UK Met Office.
The weather condition and expected heat waves have made the British government call the heat wave a “national emergency” as it is expected that all old records would be broken down this summer.
The high temperatures have become a regular in the months of June and July for the past few years now but this year the heat wave has crossed all limits.
102 degrees was recorded in Cambridge Botanic Garden on 25th July 2019 and it is expected that this record of highest temperature will be broken this week.
Most European and United Kingdom residents are still alien to the concept of air conditioning in the summers. A few houses, schools, flats, and small businesses have air conditioners installed to combat the heat wave but that might not be enough.
Eunice Lo, a climate scientist at the University of Bristol said,
“Extreme heat can be dangerous to human health. On average, about 2,000 extra deaths in England are related to heat waves each year. It is important to stay hydrated, stay indoors or under shade, and check on friends and family during a heat wave.”
4 people in different parts of the UK have been found drowned in different lakes, rivers, and water reservoirs while trying to cool off the heat.
Just to get an idea of how bad the heat wave is, the Luton airport London has been reported to have got a defect in the runway. The airport is known to serve low-cost airlines that come from different countries in Europe. The arrival and departure of the flights were suspended and diverted till the repair work is being done but the airport officials said that the high temperatures melt down the runway.
“Following today’s high temperatures, a surface defect was identified on the runway,” Luton Airport said in a statement. “Engineers were called immediately to the site and repair works are currently in progress to resume operations as quickly as possible. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused.”
Scientists have claimed that the climatic change is behind these heat waves which are going to get more intensified, frequent, and definitely longer with the passage of time.
“Climate change is driving this heat wave, just as it is driving every heat wave now,” stated Friederike Otto, who is a scientist at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College in London. “Greenhouse gas emissions, from burning fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil, are making heat waves hotter, longer-lasting, and more frequent.
“Heat waves that used to be rare are now common; heat waves that used to be impossible are now happening and killing people. We saw this with the Pacific Northwest heat wave last year, which would have been almost impossible without human-caused warming.”
