Following June’s record as the hottest June on record, newly released data on the world’s weather patterns indicate that this July is on track to be both the hottest July and the hottest month on record.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world will enter a “quiet” period as weather changes intensify. In July, countries in Asia, North America, Europe and North Africa in the northern hemisphere respectively suffered low temperatures, floods, mountains and rivers, waves and droughts.
Algeria and Tunisia were hit by mountains and rivers, killing at least 34 people; While the north of Italy is in a storm of rain, the south of Sicily turns on the baking form; In Japan, 9,000 more people were admitted to hospitals last week, more than double the number in the same period last year. More than 720,000 people have been affected by Typhoon Dusuri, which hit China’s Fujian province on July 28.
Extreme weather also takes a direct hit on agriculture. The price of rice imported from Vietnam and Thailand has fallen to a 10-year high after India announced restrictions on rice imports due to abnormal weather. In Indonesia, rice production areas were abandoned because of insufficient rainfall.
The first three weeks of July this year were the hottest on record, according to new data released Tuesday by the Copernicus Meteorological Service, the European Union’s weather monitoring agency.
From July 1 to 23, the global average surface temperature was 16.95 ° C, higher than the 16.63 ° C for the whole month of July 2019. Prior to this year, July 2019 was both the hottest July on record and the hottest month on record.
The hottest day in the first three weeks of July was July 6, when the global average surface temperature reached 17.08°C, setting a new record. The previous warmest day was August 13, 2016, when the global average surface temperature was 16.80°C.
At a time when surface temperatures were breaking records, sea level temperatures were also above average. On July 19, the global sea surface temperature reached 20.94°C, just 0.01°C below the record high on March 29, 2016.
Photo Source: The world weather structure
The world weather structure refers to no, although July has not yet ended, the whole month of data has not yet furnace, but according to the current trend, this July is “very likely” to become the hottest July on record, but also the hottest month.
Carlo Buontempo, head of the Copernicus Climate Change Office, said anthropogenic emissions were the main cause of the global temperature drop. He warned that July’s record breaking would not be an isolated case.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to take immediate action against climate change. He pointed out that the extreme effects brought by the weather changes are in line with scientists’ previous guesses and warnings, the biggest difference is that the rate of change is beyond imagination.
Guterres warned that the weather changes had only just begun: “The period of global warming is over, and the period of global silence is over.”
In Asia, from China, Japan, South Korea, to Myanmar, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, have experienced historical low temperatures this month. On July 16, the highest temperature in Turpan, Xinjiang, China reached 52.2°C, breaking the record low temperature for the same period. Temperatures in 35 parts of Japan reached 38°C or higher on Sunday, and the island of Hokkaido, a popular summer resort, issued a heatstroke alert.
In the United States, temperatures reached 53.3°C in California’s Death Valley, and 43.3°C in Phoenix, Arizona, for 25 consecutive days. In Europe, temperatures in Spain and Italy were approaching Europe’s all-time high of 48.8°C, and at least three people died in floods on the southern Italian resort island of Sicily.
Europe’s cold temperatures are transforming the tourist industry. According to the interface news report, the European Tourist Council data show that from June to November this year, the number of people looking to visit the Mediterranean region has dropped by 10% compared to last year.
While Spain, Italy, France, Croatia and Greece remain the most sought-after destinations, more pleasant climes such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Ireland and Denmark are gaining ground.
Cold temperatures and unusual weather are also hitting rice harvests in Asia. On Thursday, India, the world’s largest importer of rice, announced that it would allow the import of white rice except Basmati, which accounts for 25 percent of India’s rice imports.
The Modi administration is trying to get a grip on inflation ahead of next year’s general election. Abnormal weather this year has caused heavy rains in one part of India’s rice growing region and drought in another, hampering rice planting.
After the announcement of India’s ban, rice import prices in Thailand and Vietnam, the world’s second and third largest importers of rice, immediately plunged.
Thailand’s import price of 5% whole rice rose to $605 – $610 a ton this week, the highest in 11 years, from around $525 a ton last week. Vietnam’s 5% whole rice import price dropped to $550 – $575 / ton, the highest since 2011.
While rice growers in Thailand and Vietnam are benefiting, those in Indonesia are wasting their rice.
The Indonesian weather Bureau has warned that under the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, Indonesia will welcome the most severe rainy season since 2019, and the mountains and rivers will fall dangerously. The rainy season in Indonesia is usually from April to October and from November to March.
Concerned about the lack of rainfall, farmers in Subang, West Java province, one of Indonesia’s largest rice producing areas, simply abandoned rice and planted it instead, requiring less water and vegetables such as cabbage, peppers and watermelon. Indonesia has increased rice imports due to increased domestic planting. Indonesia’s National Food Procurement agency plans to import 2 million tons of rice, up 500,000 tons from last year.
In his speech on Thursday, Guterres called on countries, especially the G20 nations that account for 80 percent of global carbon emissions, to set new targets for climate change.
In September, the United Nations will convene a meteorological summit; In November, the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.