EXTREME HEAT IS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND INTENSE

GENEVE, AUGUST 11 /SRNA–Reuters/ - Periods of extreme heat are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting as climate change warms the planet, the World Meteorological Organization said, pointing to changes compared with the exceptionally hot European summer of 1976.

"Extreme heat is becoming more frequent and more intense, lasting longer and affecting much larger areas than was the case in the cooler climate of the past," said John Kennedy, head of the Climate Information Division at the Organisation, at a news conference in Geneva.

Kennedy said that the current pattern of heat in Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent, is the result of an interaction between a persistent high-pressure system over the Northern Hemisphere and a warmer climate.

He added that El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon that typically raises global temperatures, is not contributing to the heat in Europe this year because conditions in the tropical Pacific are currently neutral.

Parts of Europe are experiencing their fifth heatwave of the summer, which has been marked by droughts, wildfires and record-high temperatures.