Heat waves succeed each other: blowing through Asia, Europe and America

Spain is already entering its third heat wave this year. There was already one in June and in the first half of July there was a heat wave that lasted ten days and cost more than 700 people. This heat wave has finally made its way to us. Now the local weather is above 40 degrees in Spain. There are even places where it won’t get cold this week. According to some, there is no third heat wave, but the heat wave that started on July 9 is still continuing.

30 degrees seawater

Even seawater is 1-2 degrees warmer than normal. It may be good for swimmers, but disastrous for marine life. In some places the water temperature was measured at 30 degrees. By the way, it is breathtaking in all of southern Europe. And it’s hot here too.

It’s also dangerously hot across the Atlantic in the southern United States for a week. Now the heat front has moved to the northeast, producing record high temperatures. It affects more than 100 million Americans in 28 states. In many cities, the mercury is above 38 degrees. “Don’t go out in the sun, drink plenty of fluids and watch your neighbors and pets,” the Washington mayor warns.

Air conditioning

“The cities of Texas and Arizona were also much warmer than normal,” says RTL Nieuws journalist Sophie van der Meer, “but they have adapted to the higher temperatures. Here in New York, c Much less, low-income People don’t seem to like it that much. Fortunately, many buildings have air conditioning and you can walk right in. Swimming pools also stay open longer so that people can cool off.

But all these air conditioners create a new problem. “Energy companies urged people to turn off the air conditioning a bit, otherwise the grid could become overloaded and the electricity goes out,” says Sophie van der Sea. This has already happened in the Queens area this week,” he explains.

Meteorologists: hotter longer

“They are becoming more common, and they are also becoming more common around the world,” says meteorologist Martijn Dorrestein of Buienradar. “It’s almost frustrating to say this over and over, but of course it’s all about the warmer climate. We will have to deal with heat waves more often in the near future.”

And these heat waves also last longer and are more intense. ‘Look at Spain’, Dorrestein says, ‘it has been hot for a long time. And our house is also warmer. We used to never think of 40 degrees here, now we’ve had it almost twice.”

Shanghai-based reporter Roland Smid says the exterior is “unbearable” in China too. “You have to be very careful. Go out for an hour, then take a break and come back. Drink a lot, otherwise he is not responsible.”

The government in China even forbids physical work outside. For example, construction workers should temporarily suspend work, but not everyone adheres to it. Roland Smid: “I was in the suburbs today and at two o’clock in the afternoon I saw people walking with heavy tiles. I said to myself: it’s not going well.”

Testers at work

Those who are still working outside are corona testers. Even when the weather is warm, they have to continue to work: every resident has to be tested every two days. “Testers fully dressed in protective suits, face masks. I’ve seen a few people pass out this week.” In this video you can see how hard their work is:

The weather is always hot in Shanghai in summer. But this year is extreme. Smid: “I can’t remember it dropping to 40 degrees so often in recent years. Everyone here has air conditioning. In other words, when you leave your house with the air conditioner on, you get into your car with the air conditioner on. You pass the covered parking lot. Shopping center with air conditioning. It was also very busy today.”

In Shanghai, people used to leave the city in the summer, but because of the corona that is no longer possible. The city is no longer on lockdown, but other provinces are making quarantine demands on Shanghai residents and no one wants a week of self-quarantine.