The Met Office (Meteorological Office) is UK’s national weather service and it recently blogged about the issue of temperature rise as countries all over the world have been hit by heatwaves this summer, including not only European countries such as Britain and Spain, but also Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
In Europe, it is recorded that there has been an average rise in temperature in July. In the UK, the highest temperature in July used to be around low 20°C, but it has risen to mid to high 20°C this year, while countries like Spain and Portugal face the risk of reaching extreme temperature as that of inland areas might be as high as 50°C. Many other European countries such as Germany, Norway and Sweden have also reported 2018 as the hottest summer in decades.
On the other side of the world, in Japan, the temperature also broke the record by reaching and staying at mid to high 30°C in July. Many local Japanese could not endure the intense heat and was sent to hospital, while some lost their lives due to the hot weather. Meanwhile, in South Korea, there was also a broken record in its morning temperature with an increase of 2°C as it used to be around 29°C and was increased to over 30°C in July.
According to the Met Office scientist, climate change is not the sole culprit for this summer’s extreme temperature, while other factor such as jet stream has also contributed to the intense hot weather. Nonetheless, the blog entry pointed out that the rise in the world’s temperature might seem abnormal and unbearable at this stage, but it might indicate a ‘new normal’ situation in which extreme weather may appear more and more often in the near future, and putting away the unpredictable factors caused by natural weather cycle, climate change and global warming caused by human behavior are definitely to be blamed.
Although the heatwave across the globe seems to be fading out at the moment, we shall not overlook the severe consequences brought by global warming and the importance of promoting sustainability, thus helping to alleviate the problem and avoid the ‘new normal’.
