Several countries will record heat records this Saturday, forcing authorities to clamp down on extreme temperatures, the latest example of the threat of climate change.

The Italian meteorological center CNI has alerted its citizens to prepare for “the most intense heat wave of the summer and one of the most intense of all time.”

Southern Italy could record temperatures slightly above 38°C as of this Saturday in Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria and Apulia with highs “of 40 degrees and more, especially on Sunday.”

In Rome, temperatures can rise to 40°C on Monday and reach 42-43°C on Tuesday, breaking the record of 40.5°C recorded in August 2007.

The island of Sardinia is also on track to mark a new maximum that exceeds 48.8°C reached on August 11, 2021, which is the highest temperature recorded in Europe.

“The Mediterranean basin and central and southern Italy are covered by a blanket of very hot air. Unfortunately, this is nothing new: climate change is making these types of phenomena much more frequent and much more intense than in the past,” explains Claudio Cassardo, a meteorologist and academic at the University of Turin, in statements published on Friday by the newspaper ‘Il Messaggero’.

Spain, eastern France, Germany and Poland are also facing an intense heat wave, while in Greece, the authorities decreed on Friday the closure of the Acropolis of Athens during the hottest hours of the day, a measure that is repeated this Saturday.

This closure of the most visited monument in Greece, which is listed by Unesco as World Heritage, has been adopted “to protect workers” and “visitors”, explains the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, in a statement.

Temperatures of between 40°C and 41°C are forecast in Athens, but “the thermal sensation (…) felt by the body is considerably higher”, on top of the Acropolis, where the Parthenon is located, warns the minister.

In the United States, an intense heat wave extends from California to Texas and a peak in temperatures is expected this weekend.

In the southwestern states, millions of people have suffered during the week from the onslaught of extreme heat that poses a risk to the elderly, construction workers, delivery drivers and the homeless.

Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, registered its fifteenth consecutive day above 43ºC on Friday, according to the US National Weather Service (NWS).

In Death Valley, California, a violent fire broke out on Friday. This area, which is one of the hottest places on Earth, can also reach new temperature peaks on Sunday with up to 54ºC.

Some regions of China, including the capital Beijing, have also suffered spells of intense heat combined with heavy rain for weeks.

In Japan, the weather agency urges people to take precautions against heat stroke this weekend, as temperatures of 38 and 39°C are expected on Sunday and Monday.

Globally, last month was the warmest June ever recorded, according to data from the European agency Copernicus and NASA and the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Furthermore, the first week of July has been the warmest week on record so far, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Heat is one of the deadliest weather events, says the WMO.

In 2022, the heat in Europe caused the death of 60,000 people, with 18,000 fatalities in Italy, the most affected country, according to a study published Monday in Nature Medicine.

In addition, this heat wave increases the risk of fires. In Greece, which suffered violent forest fires in 2021 due to an exceptional heat wave, authorities warned of a high risk of fires, especially in regions where strong winds are expected.

In the United States, this boreal summer has been marked by a series of meteorological catastrophes. Smoke from more than 500 wildfires in Canada generated several episodes of air pollution that reached south, affecting vast swaths of the northeastern United States in June.

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