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Captured by heatwave satellites and fires in Europe

2022-07-19T16:04:31.540Z


The continent warms up faster than the rest of the world (ANSA) Captured by the eyes of the satellites the record heat wave and the fires that are hitting Europe in recent days. The continent, seen from above, is in fact unusually completely cloudless: a blue sky that offers no respite from high temperatures, photographed by the satellites of Copernicus, the Earth observation program of the European Union. The heatwave comes after the hottest second June in E


Captured by the eyes of the satellites the record heat wave and the fires that are hitting Europe in recent days.

The continent, seen from above, is in fact unusually completely cloudless: a blue sky that offers no respite from high temperatures, photographed by the satellites of Copernicus, the Earth observation program of the European Union.

The heatwave comes after the hottest second June in European history and is seen by many experts as a taste of what could happen in the future on the continent, which is heating up faster than the rest of the world: according to data of Copernicus, is 2.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, therefore already above the limit of 1.5 degrees indicated by the global community as a threshold to avoid irreversible environmental consequences.

The UK, known for its warm summers, is reaching temperatures far beyond usual: for the first time since tracking data, parts of the country will hit 40 degrees Celsius.

The comparison between the images in June and those taken in the second week of July by the Sentinel-2 satellite (a mission developed by the European Space Agency under the Copernicus program), reveals how the green British landscape has turned brown due to drought.

In other parts of Europe, satellites are also monitoring devastating fires.

In southwestern France, in the famous wine-growing region around the city of Bordeaux, two fires that broke out on July 12 burned more than 100 square kilometers, leaving conspicuous 'scars' in satellite images.

About 16,000 people have been evacuated and more than 1,500 firefighters, to whom others will soon be added, are working to put out the flames.  

In western Spain, a nature reserve near Salamanca has been on fire since July 12, with over 39 square kilometers already destroyed, while in the south of the country, near the popular tourist city of Malaga, another fire has eaten up some 20 square kilometers of land.

And it is also alarming in Portugal, Greece and Croatia.

The eyes of the Earth observation system of the Goddard Space Flight Center (Geos) of NASA are also focused on Europe.

The images, taken on July 12, show the many fires in Portugal and Spain.

In Portugal, in particular, where temperatures have reached 45 degrees, more than half of the country is on red alert due to 14 active fires.

But very high temperatures are causing problems in other parts of the globe as well.

In North Africa, Tunisia suffered heat waves and fires that damaged the wheat crop.

On 13 July, in the capital Tunis it reached 48 degrees, while in Iran even 52 degrees.

In China, too, the intense heat has deformed the streets, melted the tar and caused the tiles to burst.

The Xujiahui Observatory in Shanghai, where data has been stored since 1873, recorded its highest temperature ever on July 13: 40.9 degrees Celsius. 

Source: ansa

All tech articles on 2022-07-19

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