2023's Heatwave Crisis

Alpha
Aug 14, 2023
4 min read

Updated: Oct 1, 2024

2023 has been marked by a series of climate disasters all across the world. From raging forest fires in Canada, Hawaii, the United States, Southern Europe, and Northern Africa, to torrential rain and floods in Asia and Northern Europe. And the cause for these can be traced back to a series of heatwaves that hit the Northern Hemisphere in April. Many of which are still ongoing, leading to various temperature records being broken [1]. This article will delve into the causing effect of this crisis, present its consequences and evoke specialists to explain as to its origins.

2023’s Heatwaves:

On its first day, 2023 broke heat records, as the first of January was at least in eight countries the warmest January day registered, with temperatures passing nineteen degrees Celsius. It was, as climatologist Maximiliano Herrera put it, “absolute madness” [2]. And by the time June arrived, it was dubbed the hottest June ever recorded [3]. So when on July 10th the Cerberus Heatwave hit Europe, both the air and the ocean were abnormally high [4]. Meaning that the harsh temperatures brought by the heat wave would have a harder time dissipating. This heat wave was the result of an anticyclone [5], also dubbed Cerberus, and as a result of its formation temperatures July was dubbed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS) the hottest month in Earth’s recent history [6].

The Consequences:

As of writing this article, the abnormally high and dry weather has been identified as the main cause for the raging forest fires in Canada, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Hawaii, the USA, Chile, and Kazakhstan which have burned thousands of acres and killed hundreds of people [7]. Meanwhile in South Asia, the typical monsoon season has been atypically intense, and in the Northern regions of Europe storms, floods, and hail have caused serious property damage and claimed lives. However, the heat itself. During the summer of 2022, which was dubbed the hottest summer in Europe, nearly sixty-two thousand people lost their lives to extreme conditions [8]. And seeing as though the effects of this year's heat wave haven’t been confined to Europe and have led to temperatures being even higher, only time will tell the fatalities.

The Causes:

As stated previously, the anticyclone Cerberus is the main culprit behind the extreme heat conditions found around the globe. Besides compressing and warming air, anticyclones also cause reduced cloud cover, which reduces the protection that the Earth has against the Sun. And it is also possible that the heatwave that hit the Northern Atlantic, which raised its temperature by up to two degrees Celsius, also had a role in raising the overall temperature and making the cool-off process more difficult [9]. However, the true main culprit is the raising temperatures caused by climate change. As stated by Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London “The role of climate change is absolutely overwhelming”. And as the temperatures keep rising, the interval between these heat waves keeps getting smaller, and all the while their effects keep worsening [10].

Conclusion:

Throughout the recent decades, time and time again the public has been warned of the effects that our industrialization and burning of fossil fuels have on our planet and the possible consequences. Agreements were made and country leaders relished the possibility of coming together in the name of “saving the world”. But reality struck, as oil tycoons and politicians backed by these multi-million dollar empires refused and continue refusing, the reality of our current predicament. Our actions have been damaged and millions of people are suffering the consequences of the selfishness and the greed of our world leaders. Because climate change is in its majority, a beast created in ignorance by the wealthy, which remain clung to their outdated perspective of the world to strive for meaningful change. And the problem has shifted from “Will they change?” to “Will we make enough of a difference ourselves?” We are reaching a crossroads. The Earth is burning and weeping upon us as a result of our actions. Will we be able to recognize our failings and steer our future into the correct path? Only time will tell.

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