On Wednesday (July 19, 2023) Málaga recorded temperatures of 44C, equalling the highest ever temperatures recorded for the city. This is just one of the record-breaking temperatures recorded as the country is gripped by yet another heatwave. Meanwhile more than 4,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes in La Palma in the Canary Islands as firefighters worked to bring wildfires under control and earlier in the month a land temperature of 60C was recorded in the Extremadura region.
The heatwave is not just limited to Spain, it has swept across Europe, North Africa, Asia and southern USA. In June the planet experienced the warmest temperature on record, a temperature which continued into July and scientists are warning that we are experiencing temperatures that have not been seen in the last 120,000 years – before the last ice age.
But are the current heatwaves caused by climate change?
While we are currently experiencing an El Niño, scientists are confidently stating that the heatwave’s temperatures are so high due to the fuels we have been burning.
El Niño is a weather event that typically occurs every few years, when the sea surface temperatures rise in the Pacific, in the central east equatorial area. It is a naturally occurring weather event. However, our oceans actually absorb around 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases
Due the sheer volume of fuels we burn globally, we have been putting increased pressure on our oceans and, coupled with this naturally occurring phenomenon, it has led to heated water spreading further globally and, in turn, leading to the heatwaves we have been experiencing.
To prevent such heatwaves becoming commonplace in our lives it is vital that we tackle climate change. We must halt the speed at which we are artificially heating the planet and to do this we must move away from traditional fossil fuels.
Contact us today to talk about our green energy solutions. By moving to green energies such as solar power, we can all do our bit to protect the future of our planet and try to prevent such heatwaves becoming an everyday part of life.
