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Temperatures across Europe are set to reach record levels on Wednesday, forcing countries across the Mediterranean to issue alerts, close tourist attractions and ramp up healthcare for heat-related illnesses.
The European Space Agency said temperatures could reach 48 degrees Celsius in Sardinia and Sicily, while Rome and Madrid will record temperatures ranging from 40 to 40 degrees Celsius.
Heatwaves are becoming more common all over the world, but Europe is warming faster than the global average due to its higher land mass percentage and location on the Earth’s surface.
The extreme heat on the continent is the result of a high-pressure anti-vortex system named Cerberus after the mythical monster that guarded the gates to Hell, by the Italian Meteorological Society. It is expected to continue for at least another week and follow the hottest month of June globally. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures in June were 0.5°C warmer than the global average.
The heat wave comes as the world is also facing a shift in weather patterns from El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean that causes global warming.
Wildfires have been raging in Greece and Spain as a result of the heat and tourists have been warned to stay away from popular destinations in southern Europe such as Rome and Florence. Spanish olive oil producers have warned that production could drop by 40 percent this year due to intense heat causing trees to drop their fruit early, before they are fully formed.
Italian health officials declared heat emergencies in 20 cities on Tuesday, which will rise to 23 on Wednesday, while hospitals have been warned to prepare for a possible surge in people with heat-related problems that require urgent attention.
In Rome, where tourists have struggled to find cool or shady resting spots, City Protection and volunteers have set up 28 help points across the city to provide water and medical assistance to those overcome with heat.
A study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health estimated on Monday that more than 61,000 people died from heat-related conditions in Europe between the end of May and the beginning of September last year, with Italy hardest hit by the heat. Spain and Germany were also among the countries with the highest number of deaths from heat-related issues.
“The acceleration of warming observed over the past 10 years underscores the urgent need to re-evaluate and significantly strengthen prevention plans, paying particular attention to the differences between European countries and regions, as well as age and gender gaps, which currently indicate differences in populations,” said Hisham Ashbak, researcher. Inserm French research and co-author of the study.
Dairy farmers have resorted to using fans and sprinkler systems to cool their livestock, said Italy’s influential agricultural lobby Coldiretti, as it warns of a 10 percent drop in milk production due to heat stress in the animals.
She said farmers would suffer not only from lower milk yields, but higher water and energy costs as they turned on cooling systems to “help the animals resist the heat blockade.”
Luca Bergamschi, founder of Ecco, an independent climate think tank, said the sweltering heat — just two months after massive flooding devastated farmland in northern Italy — should serve as a wake-up call for Italy’s right-wing government, which in some parts has frustrated. The EU’s ambitious green deal to tackle global warming.
Although Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says members of her right-wing cabinet are not “dangerous climate change deniers,” she said any measures to combat climate change must be gradual so as not to affect Italy’s economy and traditions.
“The important point they miss is that if you don’t deal with climate change, you don’t have a functioning economy,” Bergamchi said. “Climate action is the precondition for a thriving and efficient economy.”
He said the heat wave showed the need for more urgency in the green tradition.
“Adaptation and resilience measures must be two major national security priorities for Italy,” he said. “The longer we delay, the more we will suffer summer after summer, winter after winter, spring after spring.”