In 2022, several areas of the world experienced heat waves. Heat waves were especially notable in East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Australia, western Europe, the United States, and southern South America. 2022 heat waves accounted for record-breaking temperatures and, in some regions, heat-related deaths. Heat waves were worsened by the effects of climate change, and they exacerbated droughts and wildfires.
Due to climate change, heat waves and other extreme weather events are longer and more intense. [1] [2] [3] In many places, heat waves were accompanied by droughts and wildfires. [2] [3]
Heat waves and droughts affected water supplies, rivers (along with shipping and nuclear reactor cooling), ecosystems, various global supply chains, health, and agriculture worldwide. [4] [5] [6] [7]
On 13 July in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, the temperature reached 48 °C (118 °F), worsening wildfires in the country. [8] [9]
In 14 January in Onslow, Western Australia, the temperature hit 50.7 °C (123.3 °F). If verified, the temperature would be tied as the highest in the Southern Hemisphere. [10] [ needs update ] From 18 to 23 January, Perth experienced six consecutive days with temperatures exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). Perth had eleven days of temperatures over 40 °C (104 °F) during the 2021–2022 summer, topping the previous record of seven days recorded in 2016–2017. [11] In early March, a strong heat wave affected Northern Australia, and in particular North Queensland, with Townsville equalling or beating its previous March minimum temperature record five times in one week.[ citation needed ]
During 2022, China suffered several heat waves, starting 5 July. According to the China Meteorological Administration, Turpan was expected to reach 50 °C (122 °F) between 25 and 31 July. [12] China experienced large blackouts [13] and experimented with cloud seeding among other measures, despite experts stating it would be "marginally effective" and possibly exacerbate problems. [14]
Starting in late March, India and Pakistan began experiencing one of the hottest periods on record. [15] At least 90 people were killed by the heat wave; 25 in India and 65 in Pakistan. [16]
On 29 June 2022, Japan saw its worst heat wave in 150 years. [17]
Heat waves affecting Europe began in June.[ citation needed ]
The Spanish heat wave began on 12 June. Spain restricted air conditioning to defined temperature ranges. [18]
In a heat wave beginning on 8 July, the United Kingdom saw its first ever red extreme heat warning, with a national emergency declared on 15 July. [19] An unconfirmed report from the Met Office on 19 July indicated a new record temperature for the United Kingdom, 40.3 °C (104.5 °F). This is the first time the temperature exceeded 40 °C (104 °F) in the United Kingdom. [20]
From 8 to 11 February, multiple cities in central and southern California experienced a record-breaking heat wave. San Francisco recorded 26 °C (78 °F) on 10 February, an all-time record for the city for meteorological winter. Palm Springs recorded 34 °C (93 °F) on 11 February. [21]
A historic heat wave affected the Midwest and Southeast in the second week of June. On 13 June, more than 125 million people under excessive heat warnings. [22] Following a brief respite 18 June, the heat wave returned into the following days. [23]
An intense, fatal heat wave swept through the United States in July. More than 100 million people were under heat alert, and over 85% of the country had temperatures at or above 32 °C (90 °F). This extreme heat severely intensified drought conditions. [24] The heat wave was responsible for at least 19 deaths, including 12 in Maricopa County, Arizona. [25]
Another heat wave moved across the United States in early August, with 80 million Americans under heat alerts. [26]
The US Bureau of Reclamation said in June that those in the Colorado River Basin would have to create plans to reduce water usage. By the August 15 deadline, the mandate was not being followed and the federal government did not have plans to follow up. Also in August, the US federal government announced that Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico would have to reduce water usage, per a previously negotiated agreement. These cuts were much less than those prescribed by the Bureau of Reclamation. [27]
A record-breaking heat wave shattered records across the Eastern United States on 5–7 November. [28] On 7 November, several places set monthly high temperature records. [29] [30] [31]
From 10 to 16 January, the Southern Cone had a severe heat wave. Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and certain parts of Brazil experienced extreme temperatures, with Argentina suffering the worst impacts. [32] According to the World Meteorological Organization, it affected water, energy supply, and agriculture. [33] Buenos Aires reached 41.5 °C (106.7 °F) and more than 700,000 people lost power. [34] Parts of Argentina reached 45 °C (113 °F). [35] [32]
A heat wave, sometimes known as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather. High humidity often accompanies heat waves. This is especially the case in oceanic climate countries. Definitions vary but are similar. We usually measure a heat wave relative to the usual climate in the area and to normal temperatures for the season. Temperatures that people from a hotter climate consider normal can be called a heat wave in a cooler area. This would be the case if the warm temperatures are outside the normal climate pattern for that area. Heat waves have become more frequent, and more intense over land, almost everywhere since the 1950s. This is due to climate change.
The 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves included severe heat waves that impacted most of the United States, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Hong Kong, North Africa and the European continent as a whole, along with parts of Canada, Russia, Indochina, South Korea and Japan during May, June, July, and August 2010. The first phase of the global heatwaves was caused by a moderate El Niño event, which lasted from June 2009 to May 2010. The first phase lasted only from April 2010 to June 2010, and caused only moderate above average temperatures in the areas affected. But it also set new record high temperatures for most of the area affected, in the Northern Hemisphere. The second phase was caused by a very strong La Niña event, which lasted from June 2010 to June 2011. According to meteorologists, the 2010–11 La Niña event was one of the strongest La Niña events ever observed. That same La Niña event also had devastating effects in the Eastern states of Australia. The second phase lasted from June 2010 to October 2010, caused severe heat waves, and multiple record-breaking temperatures. The heatwaves began in April 2010, when strong anticyclones began to develop, over most of the affected regions, in the Northern Hemisphere. The heatwaves ended in October 2010, when the powerful anticyclones over most of the affected areas dissipated.
The Australian summer of 2012–2013, known as the Angry Summer or Extreme Summer, resulted in 123 weather records being broken over a 90-day period, including the hottest day ever recorded for January on record, the hottest summer average on record, and a record seven days in a row when the whole country averaged above 39 °C (102 °F). Single-day temperature records were broken in dozens of towns and cities, as well as single-day rainfall records, and several rivers flooded to new record highs.
The 2016 Indian heat wave was a major heat wave in April and May of that year. A national record high temperature of 51.0 °C (123.8 °F) was set in the town of Phalodi, in the state of Rajasthan. Over 160 people died with 330 million affected to some degree. There were also water shortages with drought worsening the impact of the heat wave.
The 1995 British Isles heatwave occurred between late July and late August. It was part of one of the warmest summers recorded in the UK, and one of the warmest Augusts ever recorded in many locations around the UK, as well as being one of the driest summers ever recorded in the UK; many weather stations recorded the summer of 1995 as drier than, or comparable with, the summer of 1976. Ireland was also widely affected by the heatwave with temperatures reaching over 30 °C (86 °F) in some locations, as well as exceptionally low rainfall throughout the summer.
The 2018 Britain and Ireland heatwave was a period of unusually hot weather that took place in June, July and August. It caused widespread drought, hosepipe bans, crop failures, and a number of wildfires. These wildfires worst affected northern moorland areas around the Greater Manchester region, the largest was at Saddleworth Moor and another was at Winter Hill, together these burned over 14 square miles (36 km2) of land over a period of nearly a month.
The 2018 European drought and heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather that led to record-breaking temperatures and wildfires in many parts of Europe during the spring and summer of 2018. It is part of a larger heat wave affecting the northern hemisphere, caused in part by the jet stream being weaker than usual, allowing hot high-pressure air to linger in the same place. According to the European Drought Observatory, most of the areas affected by drought are across northern and central Europe. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the severe heat waves across the northern hemisphere in the summer of 2018, are linked to climate change in Europe, as well as events of extreme precipitation.
From mid-May to mid-June 2019, the republics of India and Pakistan had a severe heat wave. It was one of the hottest and longest heat waves in the subcontinent since the two countries began recording weather reports. The highest temperatures occurred in Churu, Rajasthan, reaching up to 50.8 °C (123.4 °F), a near record high in India, missing the record of 51.0 °C (123.8 °F) set in 2016 by a fraction of a degree. As of 12 June 2019, 32 days are classified as parts of the heatwave, making it the second longest ever recorded.
In late June and late July 2019 there were two temporally distinct European heat waves, which set all-time high temperature records in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The 2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July 2021. Extreme event attribution found this was a 1000-year weather event, made 150 times more likely by climate change. A study in Nature Climate Change estimated that its occurrence, while previously thought virtually impossible, is projected to increase rapidly with further global warming, possibly becoming a 10-yearly occurrence in a climate 2°C warming than the pre-industrial period, which may be reached by 2050 if fossil fuels are not phased out and carbon-dioxide emissions eliminated. The heat wave affected Northern California, Idaho, Western Nevada, Oregon, and Washington in the United States, as well as British Columbia, and in its latter phase, Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, and Yukon, all in Canada. It also affected inland regions of Central and Southern California, Northwestern and Southern Nevada and parts of Montana, though the temperature anomalies were not as extreme as in the regions farther north.
This page documents notable heat waves worldwide in 2021.
The 2022 United Kingdom heatwaves were part of several heatwaves across Europe and North Africa. The United Kingdom experienced three heatwaves; the first was for three days in June, the second for three days in July, and the third for six days in August. These were periods of unusually hot weather caused by rising high pressure up from the European continent. There were also more grass fires and wildfires than average, and in August a drought was declared in many regions.
From June to August 2022, persistent heatwaves affected parts of Europe, causing evacuations and a confirmed death toll of 24,501. However, upper estimates suggested more than 61,000 heat-related deaths between 30 May and 4 September. These heat waves were the deadliest meteorological events in 2022. The highest temperature recorded was 47.0 °C (116.6 °F) in Pinhão, Portugal, on 14 July.
From late spring to late summer heat waves in 2022 smashed many records in North America between May and September of that year. Dozens of temperature records were surpassed in the United States.
From June to 31 August 2022, China had a severe heat wave which affected several provinces and municipalities. To date, it is the country's worst heat wave to have existed. According to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, it is the most severe heat wave recorded anywhere in the world.
Starting in May 2023, a heat wave has affected Western North America. The heat wave entails wildfires in Alberta, record temperatures across Canada and the US, and over 100 deaths in Mexico. The heat also accelerated snow melt in mountain ranges, causing flooding and mudslides. According to scientists, climate change increased the strength of the 2023 heatwaves including in North America.
A number of heat waves began across parts of the northern hemisphere in April 2023, many of which are ongoing. Various heat records have been broken, with July being the hottest month ever recorded.
In 2023, Europe has been affected by heat waves. The most significant of these so far has been the named heat wave, Cerberus Heatwave, which is expected to bring the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe. Starting on 10 July 2023, the record-breaking Cerberus anticyclone affected many European countries, with the effects felt most severely in parts of Southeast and Southwest Europe such as Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Spain. The private Italian weather website iLMeteo named the extreme weather event after the hound of Hades from Greek mythology, and although some reports link the naming to the Italian Meteorological Society, the society's president said that they "absolutely don’t use it".
