We are now seeing climate change in action, and it’s in our face, as some people might say. In Banak, Norway, which sits at the top of northern Europe, over 350 miles above the bottom edge of the Arctic Circle, the Severe Weather Europe website reported some Norwegian areas even reached a couple degrees warmer than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The greater part of the Northern Hemisphere and just about all of Europe has been hit with scorching temperature, many of them setting records, with very little precipitation this summer, a consequence of overall rising global temperatures.
sensation de déjà-vu ce 30 juillet#Norvège Laponie, Finnmark, 70°N
29.7°C Vardø améliorant son record absolu de chaleur récent (28° le 19/07)
32.3 Lakselv et Tana Bru (un peu moins que le 19)#Finlande , 65°N
33.2°C Oulu, record >33° 29/07/2010
32.8 île Hailuoto, record pic.twitter.com/pmFVq1ci7R— Etienne Kapikian (@EKMeteo) July 30, 2018
The record temperatures, heatwaves, drought and disasterous precipitation has created widespread havoc on human health, agriculture, ecosystems and infrastructure and led to devastating wildfires in Europe, Canada and the United States.
Climate change is accelerating
We have tracked the change in our climate carefully for years, and in the past 40 years, scientists have documented an acceleration in the Earth’s warming. And this warming is adding an extra level of significance to the data we are collecting. And the heat at the top of the world really drives that home.
Check out the following photo from Severe Weather EU. Scandinavian folks are cooling off by taking a dip in the river, right alongside some reindeer, cold-adapted, antlered, herbivores. The reindeer are also trying to cool off. The picture tells it all…
Yet another hot day far in the Arctic circle! pic.twitter.com/7hvcC7BCg1
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) July 31, 2018
Not to confuse anyone, but Nanak does have a period of warm weather in the summer, usually lasting about three months. But the very warmest day of the year, around July 23, is usually around 62 degrees Fahrenheit. It has been 30 or more degrees higher.
And for folks living in Europe, prepare now to try and keep cool. The UK’s Met Office and severe-weather.eu both forecast temperatures that might break Europe’s all-time heat record of 118.4 degrees Fahrenheit, 48 degrees Celsius, by the end of the week.
