“Climate warming amplified this year by El Niño severely affects food production, water availability as well as our health. To properly adapt to these changes we need timely information at actionable resolution which the Copernicus programme is providing with Sentinel-3 and soon with the Copernicus Land Surface Temperature Monitoring mission at 50 m resolution,” commented Benjamin Koetz, Mission Scientist of the Land Surface Temperature Monitoring mission.
The extreme temperatures in Europe follow record-shattering global temperatures. On Monday, the World Meteorological Organization stated that the planet saw the hottest few days on record in first few days of July.
This follows the hottest June on record, with unprecedented sea surface temperatures and record low Antarctic sea ice extent. According to a report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, June 2023 was just over 0.5°C above the 1991-2020 average.
This heat coincides with the onset of El Niño, the natural phenomenon warming the Pacific Ocean. It is expected that the global temperature will rise further and more weather records will be broken.
According to a study recently published in Nature Medicine, more than 60 000 people died because of last year’s summer heatwaves across Europe. The mortality rate was highest in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal. This summer is likely to be worse. The Red Cross has urged locals and tourists to exercise extreme caution and pay attention to those most vulnerable to the high temperatures.
