A study released on the 28th by a think tank focusing on the environment shows that the number of days with high temperatures above 35°C (95°F) in the top 20 most populous cities among national capitals has increased by 52 percent in 30 years.
The increase in the number of hot days was particularly noticeable in Asian cities
The report was released by the International Institute for Environment and Development, headquartered in the British capital, London, Xinhua reported. The 20 cities included in the study include Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh; Cairo, capital of Egypt; Manila, capital of the Philippines; Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Beijing, capital of China; Tokyo, capital of Japan; and Paris, capital of France.
The data show that from 1994 to 2023, these cities have a total of 16,586 days with one-day high temperatures exceeding 35°C (95°F), which is basically an “upward step” every decade – 4,755 days in the first decade, 5,343 days in the middle decade, and 6,488 days in the last decade. In the first decade, there were 4755 days, in the middle decade there were 5343 days, and in the last decade there were 6488 days. The increase is particularly noticeable in Asian cities.
In terms of the number of days, New Delhi, the capital of India, had the highest number of hot days over the 30-year period, with a total of 4,222 days with a single-day high temperature exceeding 35°C (95°F); followed by Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, with 3,447 days; and Cairo, Egypt, and Tehran, the capital of Iran, came third and fourth, with more than 2,000 high-temperature days each.
In terms of increase, Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, comes in first, with a total of 28 days of single-day highs above 35°C (95°F) between 1994 and 2003, and this number soars to 167 days between 2014 and 2023, with 30 consecutive days of highs above 35°C (95°F) in October 2023 alone. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, also saw higher increases.
The study notes that with increasing human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, these metropolitan areas are recording more and more extreme hot weather with each passing decade, posing a threat to human health, the economy and infrastructure.
Heat kills thousands in many parts of the world
Reuters reports that the world’s 20 most populous capital cities, home to more than 300 million people, are particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures due to climate change because asphalt and buildings absorb and retain heat.
Several capital cities, including New Delhi, Dhaka and Manila, have been hit by dangerous heat waves so far this year, and thousands of people have died this year due to heat-related factors.
According to weather station data, New Delhi alone experienced the longest-lasting and worst heat wave in 74 years, with 39 consecutive days of highs at or above 40°C (104°F) from May 14th through June 21st.
Also according to Xinhua, a report released by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization on the 5th of this month said that the likelihood of at least one of the next five years exceeding 2023 as the hottest year is 86 percent. Compared with pre-industrial levels, the global average near-surface temperature has risen by 1.3°C (2.34°F). Climate change will lead to more extreme heat, making heat waves more common, hotter and longer lasting.
World Meteorological Organization: Extreme weather and climate events are the new normal
Xinhua News Agency reported on the 29th, the World Meteorological Organization climate expert Alvaro Silva said on the 28th, in recent decades, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as heat waves and heavy precipitation, are increasing. So far this year, heat waves in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America have caused serious damage and pose a major threat to human health and well-being.
Silva analyzed that a variety of climatic factors, such as El Niño and La Niña phenomena, may contribute to extreme weather and climate events at different temporal and spatial scales, but human-induced climate change is the main cause, which is also the long-term background for the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather and climate events. The whole society’s events are the reasons to blame.
The duration of record high temperatures has been prolonged, driven by factors such as the El Niño phenomenon and climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions. The Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union’s climate monitoring agency, recently released a report showing that this May was the hottest May on record and the 12th consecutive month in which the global average temperature for a single month set a new high for the same period.
