The World Meteorological Association argues for more urgent action on mitigation and adaptation.

Intense heat is gripping large parts of the Northern hemisphere.  New daily and station temperature records have been broken and it is possible that some national records may fall. June saw the warmest global average temperature on record, which continued into July, according to preliminary figures.

Meanwhile, heavy precipitation has caused devastating floods and loss of life in some countries, including the Republic of Korea, Japan and northeastern USA.

“The extreme weather – an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate – is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies. This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

“In addition, we have to step up efforts to help society adapt to what is unfortunately becoming the new normal. The WMO community is providing forecasts and warnings to protect lives and livelihoods as we strive to achieve our goal of Early Warnings for All,” said Prof. Taalas.

Turbo-charged climate change

As temperatures in Europe continue to be about 10-15 degrees hotter than usual, scientists say “turbo-charged” climate change is driving the prolonged period of record temperatures currently baking much of the planet.

As the planet has heated, hotter-than-usual spells have become more intense and now last on average about 24 hours longer than 60 years ago, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA data from the 50 most populous cities in the US shows the heatwave season is 49 days longer now compared with the 1960s.

The effects of heat on health are cumulative, and the body only starts to recover when the temperature drops below 27C (80F). Even small temperature rises can result in increased deaths and illness.

“Extreme heat is killer heat, and multiple-day heatwaves – and early-season ones – are the biggest threat, because people can’t get a break and the body can only sustain it for so long,” said Brenda Ekwurzel, the director of climate science for the climate and energy programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US. “These are not isolated heat events; this is what the turbo-charged climate change world looks like.”