Paris: According to the European global warming monitor, devastating wildfires and scorching heatwaves during the third-hottest August on record highlighted how urgent it is to address climate change and get ready for its terrible effects.
During a sweltering month that nearly reached record highs, fires raged across Spain and Portugal, southwest Europe withered under a third summer heatwave, and many regions of Asia saw above-normal temperatures.
The month’s peak temperatures were also near record highs for the world’s oceans, which absorb excess heat from the atmosphere to help control Earth’s climate. Severe weather extremes are associated with hotter waters.
“With the world’s (oceans) also remaining unusually warm, these events underline not only the urgency of reducing emissions but also the critical need to adapt to more frequent” .
