UK: This week, dangerous heatwaves are spreading across parts of China, Europe, the south-west, and the centre of the United States as dozens of cities struggle with record-high summer temperatures.
At least 86 Chinese cities in the country's eastern and southern regions had issued heat alerts by Tuesday afternoon. Within the next 24 hours, some cities are expected to reach temperatures of 40C (104F). The 25 million residents of Shanghai, the largest city in China, have been advised by the authorities to get ready for unusually hot weather. Only 15 days have exceeded 40C in Shanghai since records have been kept in 1873.
The 35-year-old Shanghai resident Wang Ying declared, "This is too hot for July." She said she was going to work from home for the week, "My air conditioning has been on all day today, and I don't dare to venture out at all - even to my balcony.
According to a 2020 Lancet study, heatwave-related mortality increased by a factor of four between 1990 and 2019, reaching 26,800 deaths in 2019. According to the study, those 65 years of age or older have a 10.4% higher risk of passing away during a heatwave. As a result, many Chinese cities are issuing warnings about the risk that such high temperatures pose to the elderly.
Since Sunday, city officials in the eastern city of Nanjing, one of China's three "furnaces" known for its sweltering summers, have allowed locals access to underground air-raid shelters. These bunkers from World War II are furnished with wifi, books, water dispensers, and even microwave ovens.
The third furnace city of Wuhan, which is located in central China, is also expected to experience extremely high temperatures, humidity, and ultraviolet radiation. Those who have been paying attention to China's climatic trends are no longer surprised by extreme weather, according to Prof. Faith Chan of the University of Nottingham in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo. The previous year, China experienced severe flooding. The two anticyclones, including the Western Pacific subtropical high from the sea and the one that originated on the Persian Plateau and moved to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, are to blame for this year's heat wave, according to Chan.
More than a dozen daily temperature records were broken over the weekend in cities in Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. In the US, the south-west and central regions have been experiencing extreme heat, with 42.2C in Waco among them.
The increase in what was already a hot summer has been attributed to a "heat dome," an area of high pressure that traps heat. Texans are being urged to practise energy conservation as the power grid struggles to keep up with the increase in demand while they suffer in record-breaking heat and high humidity.
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