UN warns heatwaves will happen more often until 2060s

UN: Heatwaves like the one stifling western Europe are becoming more frequent and the trend is set to continue until at least the 2060s, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The current heatwave should act as a wake-up call for countries pumping ever more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation said.

“They are becoming more frequent and this negative trend will continue… at least until the 2060s, independent of our success in climate mitigation efforts,” WMO Chief Petteri Taalas told a press conference in Geneva.

“Thanks to climate change we have started breaking records… In the future these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal, and we will see even stronger extremes,” he added. The heatwave fuelled ferocious wildfires before sweeping north and pushing temperatures in Britain over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time.

Meanwhile, London’s firefighting authority declared a major incident in the British capital on Tuesday in response to the surge in fires amid a record-breaking heatwave in Britain and Europe.

The London Fire Brigade said it had deployed dozens of fire engines to several fires in and around the city, including thirty to a grass fire in east London. Television footage showed one blaze engulfing several homes.

Britain recorded its highest ever temperature, breaking 40C (104F) for the first time, as a heatwave gripping Europe intensified, scorching fields and damaging airport runways and train tracks. – INDIA TODAY, NDTV