54 Celsius in Kuwait may be Asian record
The UN weather agency yesterday said it believes a 54-degree Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit) temperature recorded in Kuwait has set a record for the eastern hemisphere. The World Meteorological Organization said it is setting up a committee to look into whether the temperature recorded Thursday in Mitrabah, Kuwait, was a new high for the hemisphere and in Asia. WMO’s Omar Baddour said it’s “likely” to be an eastern hemisphere record.
Last week, swathes of North Africa and the Middle East were hit by heat waves that have become more frequent over the last half-century, and Earth is fresh off the hottest six months on record. WMO said the world record high of 56.7 Celsius (134 Fahrenheit) was recorded at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, in 1913.
Record temperatures in the first half of 2016 have taken scientists by surprise despite widespread recognition that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, the director of the World Climate Research Program said. The earth is on track for its hottest year on record with June marking the 14th straight month of record heat, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said last week.
Temperatures recorded mainly in the northern hemisphere in the first six months of the year, coupled with an early and fast Arctic sea ice melt and “new highs” in heattrapping carbon dioxide levels, point to quickening climate change, it said. “What concerns me most is that we didn’t anticipate these temperature jumps,” said David Carlson, director of the WMO’s climate research program, late on Monday. “We predicted moderate warmth for 2016, but nothing like the temperature rises we’ve seen,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone from Geneva.
“Massive temperature hikes, but also extreme events like floodings, have become the new normal,” Carlson said. “The ice melt rates recorded in the first half of 2016, for example - we don’t usually see those until later in the year.” He said sudden temperature rises could endanger people, animals and water systems. — Agencies