Europe heatwave: a number of reasons, climate change most worrying | Explained News,The Indian Express
Some places in Britain Tuesday recorded temperatures above 40°C, the first time any place in the United Kingdom breached this mark.
An extraordinarily hot summer in Europe crossed another peak on Tuesday with some places in Britain recording temperatures above 40°C, the first time any place in the United Kingdom had breached this mark. Last month, a few places in France had recorded temperatures in excess of 45°C — this too an all-time high for that country.
Other countries in Europe are also facing extreme heat, made all the more unbearable because domestic air-conditioning is not very common in that part of the world. Temperatures have dropped a bit in some countries in the last two days, but are still higher than the normal that is expected during this time of the year.
Why is it so hot
As is true of most such situations, the unusually high temperatures are a result of the combination of global and local factors. On the global scale, climate change has been driving the temperatures upwards, which, in general, is evident across the world.
Considering the average annual temperature, the last eight years have been the hottest ever recorded through direct measurements since the 1880s, a NASA analysis showed. The temperature in 2021 was the sixth highest ever recorded. Most regions of the world have been reporting higher-than-usual temperatures year after year. In the United Kingdom, each month of this year has recorded substantially higher average temperatures compared to normal, or the average of the 30-year period between 1991 and 2020 (see chart). The current heatwave in UK and the rest of Europe, which began in the second week of July, is in keeping with this trend, and was forecast well in advance.
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