Europeans seek shade as heatwave grips much of the continent
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A second heatwave is expected to hit Italy next week as Cerberus is swiftly followed by heatwave Cheron, named after the ferryman to the underworld in Greek mythology.
According to La Repubblica, the temperatures expected this weekend could climb around 12C higher (53.6F) in the following days, particularly for Tuscany and Lazio.
This weekend, the highest temperatures are set to peak at around 36C (96.8F) in most Italian cities, though Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia may reach up to 41C.
However, next week temperatures are predicted to climb as high as 48C in Sardinia.
It comes as Greece introduced emergency measures for workers, and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit popsicles, as a deadly heatwave grips large parts of Mediterranean Europe with temperatures forecast to break all-time records.
The Cerberus heatwave is set to get worse over the weekend with the mercury expected reach as high as 45C in parts of Greece and Spain.
There is also extreme heat in the US, and you can follow the blog for that here.
Should I keep my windows closed or open during a heatwave?
With the summer heat upon us, it means that our homes may become uncomfortably hot, especially at night.
As it gets hotter, it can be tempting to open your windows to let in some fresh air when the weather gets too warm – but should you keep them shut instead?
According to NHS advice, curtains should be kept shut to keep sun-facing rooms as shaded as possible.
The health service advises drinking plenty of fluid and avoiding excess alcohol, keeping out of the sun between 11am and 3pm, and avoiding exercise during the hottest part of the day.
Professor Amin Al-Habaibeh, an expert in heat transfer in buildings at Nottingham Trent University, tells The Independent: “It is all about heat transfer. We need to reduce heat gain to inside the building in hot weather.”
Heatwave across Spain and Italy leaves Brits abroad sweltering:
As temperatures top 40C, Britons are doing whatever they can to stay cool. Graham Keeley reports from Madrid on the extreme heat across Europe:
I came here for the sun after rainy Britain but this is a bit much for me,” says Peter Stevens, 73, a retired project manager from London who is staying near Barcelona.
Spain is sweltering in an intense heatwave affecting much of southern and eastern Europe, including tourist hotspots such as Italy and Greece, with the thermometer reaching beyond 40C (104F). Just like Peter, thousands of holidaymakers escaping this weekend’s wet and windy weather in Britain find themselves roasting under a high-pressure, high-temperature front currently sitting across the continent.
The heatwave, named Cerberus after the three-headed monster that features in Dante’s Inferno, has prompted warnings for both tourists and locals to take care, particularly when temperatures reach their peak in the middle of the day. “I am getting headaches after a few hours on the beach and must go home to the hotel,” Peter says.
Tourists protect themselves from the sun as they are visiting the Royal Palace in Madrid
Paris Agreement global warming target ‘quite unlikely'
Dr Jesus Lizana, co-lead author of the report, said: “If we adapt the built environment in which we live, we won’t need to increase air conditioning.
“But right now, in countries such as the UK, our buildings act like greenhouses – no external protection from the sun in buildings, windows locked, no natural ventilation and no ceiling fans. Our buildings are exclusively prepared for the cold seasons.”
The study used 2,100 global climate simulations for mean temperature across three global warming scenarios – historical (2006–2016), 1.5C and 2C above pre-industrial levels.
Members of the United Nations signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, an international treaty with the goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5C, but the report says this target is “increasingly out of reach”.
Asked about the Paris Agreement global warming target, Dr Khosla said: “I think the aspiration that we would stay within 1.5C limit is seeming quite unlikely. It doesn’t seem like we have any credible pathway.”
Warning over increased need for air conditioners
Dr Khosla said: “Without adequate interventions to promote sustainable cooling, we are likely to see a sharp increase in the use of energy guzzling systems, such as air conditioning.
“This could further increase emissions and lock us into a vicious cycle of burning fossil fuels to make feel cooler while making the world outside hotter.”
She said solutions for these demands would have to be considered at different levels, adding: “At the policy level, it’s really important to think nationally about policy solutions in terms of resilience and adaptation, net zero strategies and the Heat and Buildings Strategy and how sustainable cooling can find its way into these high-level documents.
“At the level of the urban, it’s thinking about what kind of measures to put in place. Right now, the built environment in the UK is designed to keep the heat in, not out, and the building stock in the UK is one of the oldest in the world.”
Dr Khosla said natural or artificial shading, improving ventilation and reflective paint all represented alternative adaptations to air conditioners.
‘Preparedness is currently very low'
The findings come as large parts of southern Europe have faced sweltering temperatures over recent days, brought about by the Cerberus heatwave.
Dr Radhika Khosla, associate professor and leader of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Cooling, said: “[The findings] are very significant. Because it’s a relative change, it indicates that the preparedness of these countries to be able to respond is currently very low.
“It has huge implications for public health and all sustainable development goals, including livelihoods, infrastructure, education, poverty and food and nutrition.”
The report concludes that there is now a “need for immediate, unprecedented and localised adaptation”, as small increases in global warming continue to be marked.
The energy required for cooling by 2050 is predicted to be equivalent to the combined electricity capacity of the United States, European Union and Japan in 2016, the report says, with air conditioners largely contributing to this output.
UK buildings must adapt without air con against global warming
Buildings in the UK “act like greenhouses” and must be adapted immediately as the country faces extreme temperatures if global warming reaches 2C, researchers have warned.
But measures must not include air conditioning, which could lead to a “vicious cycle” of high energy consumption to make people feel cooler inside while making the world outside hotter.
Research conducted at the University of Oxford found, of countries with more than five million inhabitants in 2020, Switzerland and the UK would see their relative demand for people needing to cool down rise by 30%, as they would face a greater number of days with extremely high temperatures.
The world is hotter than it’s been in thousands of years, and it’s as if every alarm bell on Earth were ringing.
“The warnings are echoing through the drenched mountains of Vermont, where two months of rain just fell in only two days,” she writes.
“They’re shrilling from the scorching streets of Texas, Florida, Spain and China, with a severe heatwave also building in Phoenix and the Southwest in coming days.
“They’re burbling up from the oceans, where temperatures have surged to levels considered ‘beyond extreme’.”
Italy braces for second heatwave as Greece follows emergency measures
Sicily and Sardinia could see temperatures of 48C next week, which is approaching the continent’s record of 48.8C from 2019.
Meteorologist Luca Lombroso, from the AMPRO group in Italy, said: “Next week there will be an even stronger heatwave than this one, some values in the central south will be really freaky.
“Between Tuesday and Wednesday in Rome and Florence, we will probably exceed 40 degrees, which will also be approached in the north.”
In Greece, the government has ordered the suspension of work between midday and 5pm in areas where the risk from heat is very high, and also requested remote work for private sector employees with health conditions.
Authorities have banned access to nature reserves and forests to reduce the risk of wildfires.
People in Greece take to the beach to cool down on the coast of Varkiza near Athens
Greece ‘like Africa’ as Europeans melt in deadly heatwave
Forecasters say the temperature is expected to worsen in the coming days when Europe’s highest ever recorded temperature – 48.8C – could be breached in Sicily and Sardinia.
While Spain is expected to reach 45C, according to experts.
Two forest fires per hour in Greece under wrath of Cerberus
Greece has endured at least 52 forest fires in the last 24 hours, according to the country's fire department.
The blazes were registered at an average of more than two per hour between 6pm yesterday and 6pm today, local time.
"Most were tackled immediately at their initial stage," the fire department said in a statement.
Last year, Greece suffered devastating wildfires throughout its countryside which led to evacuations and widespread damage in certain areas.
Under Cerberus' wrath, the country has put emergency measures in place with temperatures of 44C forecast on Friday and Saturday.
Wildfires in the Peloponnese region of Greece on Wednesday
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL2hlYXR3YXZlLWluLWV1cm9wZS1ncmVlY2Utd2VhdGhlci1tYXAtY2VyYmVydXMtYjIzNzUxNDYuaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5
2023-07-15 02:00:00Z
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