Massive heat waves have hit Europe, sending temperatures soaring, fueling wildfires, causing heat-related deaths, and shattering records.
In the United Kingdom, British officials issued fire warnings, as temperatures may reach 104 degrees in the typically cool country. It is the first time such a forecast has been made. Government officials in the Uk have described the extreme heat as a “national emergency.”
Because the United Kingdom is typically cooler, with temperatures hovering around 70 normally in July, very few homes, apartments, schools, or small businesses have air conditioning or are built to withstand high temperatures.
France is bracing for the peak of the heatwave, with crushing temperatures expected as wildfires continue to rage. Forecasters have put 15 areas in France on the highest state of alert for extreme temperatures.
Fires are blazing across southwest Europe.
Fires are ripping across France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, destroying enormous swaths of land and forcing thousands to flee.
Climate change is to blame, scientists and experts say. Scientists predict more frequent and more intense episodes of extreme weather. This includes massive heatwaves as well as big droughts.
This is already the second heatwave to engulf parts of Europe in only a matter of weeks.
Experts say that the heatwaves we are seeing are massively higher due to human activity that has caused global warming.
The United Nations has warned that humanity is facing “collective suicide” over the climate crisis.
UN leader Antonio Guterres told governments that half of humanity is in the “danger zone.”
He said that the heatwaves and wildfires show humanity is facing collective suicide. It comes as governments scramble to protect their people from the impacts of severe heat. He blamed the mass consumption of fossil fuels and the world’s addiction to fossil fuels.
Guterres said the world has a choice, either collective action or collective suicide.
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