At the beginning of July, the hottest day in history was measured globally – four times in a row. From July 3rd to 6th, the global average temperature climbed to the highest level since records began in 1979. The US broadcaster CNN headlined that these were probably the hottest days on earth in 100,000 years. North America has been experiencing unprecedented extreme weather for months: huge forests are burning in the north, rain falls like it only does once in a millennium, cities are flooded and the south is suffering from record heat. The damage is huge – the efforts of the industrialized countries are manageable.
It doesn’t really matter which part of the US or Canada you look at: weather disasters are never far away. While flooding has just abated in New York and Vermont in the Northeast of the United States following heavy rains, the Southwest is currently groaning under unbearable heat. The national weather service issued a high temperature warning for at least 93 million people. “This is the result of a high pressure ridge over the US Southwest that will intensify over the weekend,” it said.
US media spoke of a heat bell. In some regions in the south of the US states of California, Nevada and Arizona, up to almost 49 degrees were expected over the weekend. Farther east in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, humid heat of up to 46 degrees must be expected. All affected regions would find it difficult to cool down at night, so little relief could be expected even after the sun had set.
Sad record in Canada
Canada is setting a sad record this year: According to the authorities, 100,000 square kilometers of forest and other landscapes have already burned down (as of yesterday) – an area larger than Hungary. Canada is suffering from the worst forest fire season in its history. Record heat and record drought not only caused fire, but also apocalyptic images. Not only the US east coast metropolis of New York was temporarily engulfed in a dense yellowish veil of smoke moving south.
Kirsten Thonicke from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research places the extent of the Canadian forest fires in direct connection with the ongoing climate crisis: “The winter in Canada was too dry, the spring too warm; in the arctic areas the effects of climate change are increasing, here it was way too warm,” she explains. In some cases, over 30 degrees were measured in cities like Toronto in the spring – 18 degrees warmer than normal.
“The reason for this is a constant high pressure area, which brought warm and dry air into the region. With increasing climate change, these weather constellations are becoming more and more stable, so these situations last longer and longer,” Thonicke continues. In any case, the mega fires are ecologically a catastrophe and endanger the ability of the affected forests and tundra areas to recover. And researchers are not only sounding the alarm here: In southern Florida, the water temperature has risen to over 32 degrees – and is acutely endangering the survival of corals in the region.
How bad is the damage so far?
Scientists agree on the connection between the most recent weather phenomena and the climate crisis. But while activists are trying to make their voices heard with increasingly polarizing actions, according to the United Nations (UN), politics and business are still not doing enough to achieve the Paris 1.5 degree target. Many experts have long since seen it as out of reach.
Meanwhile, the damage caused by weather and climate catastrophes is increasing every year. According to official figures, in 2022 it was $176 billion in the US alone. For comparison: the average value per year from 1980 to today is 58.5 billion.
In New York, an increasingly desperate UN Secretary General appeared in front of the cameras. António Guterres has made the fight against the climate crisis his central concern. He keeps preaching that all countries must step up their efforts significantly to achieve a 45 percent reduction in emissions by the end of the decade.
And while states are still struggling to find compromises for the future and radical measures are out of reach, Guterres drew a sober and shocking conclusion a few days ago: “The situation we are currently experiencing is proof that climate change is getting out of control is.”
