Greece is “probably” experiencing the longest heat wave on record in its history with temperatures expected to rise above 44°C this weekend, as the record heat wave hitting the southern United States is likely to progress across the country. “According to our data, we are likely to experience a 16-17 day heat wave, which has never happened before in our country,” Kostas Lagouvardos, the research director at the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development at the National Observatory in Athens, told ERT television.
In Greece, all the archaeological sites including the famous Acropolis of Athens will continue to keep their doors closed during the hottest hours until Sunday. “We need absolute vigilance (…) because the difficult times are not over,” warned Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “We are facing a new heat wave” and “a possible strengthening of the winds” which have already been fanning several fires around the capital since Monday, he added.
Temperatures of up to 45°C are expected for Saturday in central Greece. According to the National Observatory of Athens, the absolute record in the capital was recorded in June 2007, with 44.8°C. Nationally, it was established in July 1977 with 48°C in Elefsina, near Athens.
“I’m used to high temperatures. Every summer we have them, but what’s difficult this year is that the heat waves follow one another,” admitted Christos Boyiatzis, who polishes the shoes of businessmen in the chic Kolonaki district.
Progress in the United States
In the United States, about 80 million people will experience temperatures of 41 ° C and more this weekend, alert the American weather services (NWS). They could rise to more than 46°C in Phoenix, Arizona (southwest), which is currently experiencing its longest heat wave on record: Friday, the mercury exceeded 43°C for the 22nd day in a row.
On Thursday, a fire broke out at a propane storage site, with explosions of gas tanks. “On a hot day like this, these propane tanks expand, they become real missiles,” sending debris up to more than 450 meters, a local fire official told local television KPHO.
500 km away, in California, Death Valley and its highest temperatures on the planet attract tourists, the latter wanting to take their picture alongside a screen displaying ever more extreme temperatures. Some are waiting for the absolute record on Earth – 56.6°C recorded there in 1913 -, disputed by some experts, to be beaten.
A 71-year-old man died there earlier this week and Death Valley National Park rangers suspect “heat played a part” in his death, which would make it the second of the year under the circumstances.
For the rest of July, the heat wave should move towards the center of the United States, on the side of the Rockies and the Great Plains of the Midwest, according to the American Agency for Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation (NOAA).
And July is on track to break the record for the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, not only for the first time measurements were taken but also for “hundreds, if not thousands of years,” NASA chief climatologist Gavin Schmidt told reporters. This is not just due to El Niño, the cyclic weather phenomenon that originates in the Pacific Ocean and causes global temperatures to rise, he said.
For this specialist, the extreme temperatures will persist because “we continue to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere”. Compared to the pre-industrial era, the world is experiencing a warming close to 1.2°C as a result of human activity, mainly the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas).