Hanoi [Vietnam], August 3: Rescue teams are struggling to reach isolated towns where infrastructure and power grids have been completely paralyzed, according to local authorities. The unprecedented downpour from Gaemi has also submerged more than 100,000 hectares of farmland in the area. China's National Disaster Reduction Commission has raised the emergency response level to level 2, the second highest in a four-tier warning system, in Hunan province as flooding continues. The National Meteorological Administration has forecast two or three more typhoons to hit the country in August.
Heavy rains and floods have also hit many Asian countries in recent days. In India, as of August 2, floods and landslides have claimed the lives of 13 people in the foothills of the Himalayas and another 200 in villages and tea plantations in the state of Kerala. The Sinuiju and Uiju districts (northwest of North Korea) have also recently suffered heavy rains, inundating more than 4,100 homes and nearly 3,000 hectares of farmland. In Europe, heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning hit the capital Paris (France) on August 1, flooding roads and disrupting some competitions at this year's Olympics.
In another development, surface temperatures across the vast Antarctic ice sheet rose by an average of 10 degrees Celsius above normal in July. On some days, temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere exceeded 28 degrees Celsius. According to The Guardian, this heat wave is the second to hit the region in the past two years. The most recent was in March 2022, when temperatures spiked to 39 degrees Celsius and caused parts of the old ice sheet to collapse. Scientists have pointed out that the cause of the high temperatures in Antarctica in July is the El Nino phenomenon.
Zeke Hausfather, Berkeley Earth (USA), said that the entire Antarctica has warmed along with the rest of the world in the past 50 years. The world has experienced 12 record-warm months, with temperatures continuously rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, increasing the risk of natural disasters. According to Hausfather, there is a 95% chance that 2024 will surpass 2023 to become the hottest year on record.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
