Early heat in southern Europe: 1/3 of France in heat wave awareness
An unprecedented heat wave is intensifying in France, with temperatures already hovering above 40 degrees, as Spain has already faced several wildfires.
Lower Dry Bank in Montjean-sur-Loire on June 16, 2022.
AFP
In all, 37 French ports, or 18 million people, were affected by this initial heat wave, which came from the Magrep via the Iberian Peninsula.
In Spain, temperatures rose to 43 degrees Celsius last weekend, with many wildfires, especially in Catalonia.
In France, according to Météo-France, 40 C is often reached or even higher on Fridays over the larger southwest quarter. On Thursday, M தெtéo-France reported that the thermometer had already risen to 40 C in Saint-Gene-de-Minervais (south), a pre-eminent record for metropolitan France other than Corsica.
The Ministry of Health has activated a free heat wave information service number and the Department of Education announced that school and college students from 12 departments in red can stay home on Friday.
“National Heat Wave Project”
The highest level of “national heat wave program” Red Vigilance will begin at 2:00 pm on Friday in 12 fields located along the southwest and Atlantic coasts. Météo-France has extended Orange Awareness to a total of 25 sectors.
“This is the first heat wave ever recorded in France since 1947,” said Matteo-French meteorologist Matthew Sorrell. “Many monthly or full records (…) have to be broken down in many regions,” he says, referring to “climate change.”
This heat wave, which comes especially after hot and dry springs, will further worsen the drought of the soil, especially agriculture, while many sectors are already controlling water use.
In northern Italy, water has already been distributed to several cities on the Bo Plain and Lombardy is preparing to declare a state of emergency in the face of a threat threatening crops. The Bo plain, which stretches across the northern part of the country and is home to important agricultural crops, is facing the worst drought in 70 years.
In France, this is the fourth time – and the start of the season – that heat wave red awareness has been used since the system came into effect in 2003 after lessons learned from the historic heat wave that killed more than 15,000 people. Country.
20 years later
Twenty years later, nursing homes have taken steps to protect their occupants through long queues at irrigation facades, ice cubes in drinks, fans and air-conditioned rooms. But the elderly who are isolated at home are still vulnerable.
“We are more vigilant than usual with adults. It is difficult for them. Most of the time, they are lonely, physically weak, and lose their autonomy, ”said Sarah Jalbert, a home nurse in Dorn (Southwest). In this area, many sports meetings and public events have been canceled by the authorities.
Further north, in Wendy, the province has lifted the closure measures for chickens following the epidemic of bird flu.
Due to the heat, air quality has deteriorated in many areas, and ozone pollution has reached its peak in the Paris region and east, where road users are being asked to slow down.
For their part, firefighters are on the lookout for fires as the heat and vegetation dry out.
Climate change marker
Scientists explain that the amplitude of heat waves, especially in Europe, is a direct result of global warming, and greenhouse gas emissions increase both the intensity, duration, and frequency of these events.
Spain, which has experienced its hottest May this year since the turn of the century, has already experienced extreme temperatures in four episodes over the past ten months, according to the Meteorological Agency.
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