A severe heat wave continues to sweep the United States of America
More than 80 million Americans woke up today, Sunday, to warnings or recommendations related to high temperatures in the western and southern states of the country, with temperatures exceeding record levels.
And the National Weather Service warned of a “widespread and severe heat wave” in a large part of the western and southern United States of America, with expected high temperatures to continue in the next week, which increases health risks to millions of residents.
And the authority stated in a report, today, Sunday, that “record high temperatures are expected to be recorded on a large scale, as well as record daily low temperatures that break record levels in parts of the southwest, along the western Gulf Coast and in southern Florida.”
On a construction site in Houston, Texas, Juan, 28, is trying to work despite the sweltering heat. “When I only drink water, I feel dizzy, and I feel like vomiting because of the (high) heat. I need other drinks like soft drinks and cold energy drinks to be able to work,” he told AFP.
Residents of the city were asked to limit the use of electricity from two o’clock in the afternoon until ten o’clock in the evening, from yesterday, Saturday, until tomorrow, Monday, in an attempt to mitigate the high demand.
As for the residents of parts of California, Nevada and Arizona, they are living for the second day with the heat, amid a temperature that, according to forecasts, may reach 46 degrees Celsius, according to the Meteorological Authority. And the temperatures in Southern California had reached their peak, yesterday, Saturday, between 41 and 43 degrees Celsius.
Warning of the dangers of record heat in the American “Death Valley” in California (David McNew / Getty)
And in the famous “Death Valley” in California, which is one of the hottest places on earth, the temperature rises to 54 degrees Celsius today, Sunday, knowing that it had recorded 51 degrees Celsius yesterday afternoon. The temperature in the town of Idlewild, located east of Los Angeles, at an altitude of about 1645 meters, also exceeded the previous record level, recording 38 degrees Celsius. And in the city of Imperial in California, the temperature reached a record high of 46 degrees Celsius.
The National Weather Service indicated that high temperatures are the leading cause of weather-related death in the United States of America, and urged Americans to take these risks seriously. “All in all, from South Florida and the Gulf Coast to the Southwest, more than 80 million people remain under an extreme heat warning or a heat warning as of early this morning,” she added.
The authorities sounded the alarm a few days ago, recommending that Americans avoid outdoor activities during the day and avoid dehydration, which can quickly become fatal in such recent temperatures.
In the state of Arizona, the city of Phoenix recorded for 16 consecutive days a temperature of more than 43 degrees Celsius, and yesterday afternoon, Saturday, it reached 48 degrees Celsius and did not fall below 32 degrees at night. City authorities have deployed volunteers to direct residents to cooling stations and distribute water bottles and hats, but the three-day-a-week work schedule “is clearly not enough,” David Hondola told local ABC.
Heat waves recurred faster and more intensely in major US cities, at a rate of six times annually during the first two decades of this century, compared to two waves annually in the 1960s, according to data from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
In this context, the Office of the Meteorologist in Las Vegas stated, via a tweet on Twitter, that “this heat wave is not the usual desert heat,” noting that “its length, extreme temperatures during the day, and warm nights” are unfamiliar.
On the other hand, Canada, the neighbor of the US states, is witnessing high temperatures after months of below-average rainfall. The area of land destroyed by forest fires has reached a record annual level, which as of Saturday reached 24.7 million hectares. “This year we are recording worse numbers than the most pessimistic expectations,” Yann Boulanger, a researcher at the Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources, told AFP.
Although it is difficult to link a specific weather event to climate change, scientists stress that human-related global warming is responsible for the increase and intensification of heat waves. On a related note, floods have swept parts of the northeastern United States of America in recent weeks. And officials in Bucks County in eastern Pennsylvania announced today, Sunday, that three people were killed and four others were missing, after a storm, yesterday, Saturday, caused 18 centimeters of rain in one hour, which caused floods that washed away vehicles.
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(AFP)
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2023-07-16 17:49:56
