Latest news with #Guarino
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First Post
30-06-2025
- Climate
- First Post
Cruel summer: Why temperatures in Europe are soaring past 40°C
Europe is sweltering under a record-breaking heatwave with temperatures in Spain touching 46 degrees Celsius. Other countries like Italy, Greece and France are also batttling with a severe summer. The mercury is only expected to surge in coming days. Is it the heat dome or climate change? read more Countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal have already recorded severe heat conditions and persistent heatwaves, pushing both residents and tourists to take shelter. File image/Reuters Europe is currently in the grip of a fierce and early summer heatwave, with temperatures shooting up to a scorching 46 degrees Celsius in parts of the south. Countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal have already recorded severe heat conditions, pushing both residents and tourists to take shelter. The intense heat has already triggered health warnings and fire alerts, with authorities across the region urging people to stay cautious. What's more concerning is that the extreme temperatures are expected to continue into the next week, offering little to no relief. So, what's happening on the ground, and what's fuelling Europe's record-breaking temperatures? Ban on outdoor activities, free access to pools France is experiencing the brunt of the heat. In Marseille—France's second-largest city—temperatures hit a blistering 41.3 degrees Celsius, the highest recorded in the country during this extreme weather event. To help people cope, local authorities have made public swimming pools free to access, offering some much-needed relief from the Mediterranean heat. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Italy's summer, once celebrated for its charm, is now defined by stifling heat and unusual restrictions. Several regions, including Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Sicily, Puglia, and Umbria, are planning to restrict outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day. The soaring temperatures have prompted Italian trade unions to urge the government to extend these protections nationwide. A woman protects herself from the sun with a fan during a heat wave in Seville, Spain, on Saturday. AFP Emergency rooms across the country are already feeling the impact. According to Mario Guarino, vice-president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine, there's been around a 10 per cent rise in cases of heatstroke. 'It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,' Guarino told The Telegraph. Hospitals in Naples have also started creating dedicated pathways for heatstroke patients, allowing quicker access to treatments like cold-water immersion, he added. Wimbledon in the London also witnessed its hottest opening day on record on Monday, possibly breaking the tournament's all-time heat record. Tennis fans protect themselves from the sun as they queue for tickets on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. AFP The current opening day high is 29.3 degrees Celsius, set in 2001. The hottest day ever at Wimbledon was 35.7 degrees Celsius on July 1, 2015. Tourists reel under the heat On Sunday, Italy's Health Ministry placed 21 out of the 27 monitored cities under its highest-level heat alert, including major tourist destinations like Rome, Milan, and Naples. In Rome, visitors were spotted gathering near shaded areas around the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, using umbrellas and public fountains to cool off in the intense sun. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and never stay still, because that's when you get sunstroke,' Sriane Mina, an Italian student in Venice, told AFP. People fill their bottle at a fountain on a hot summer day in Rome, near the Vatican, on Saturday. AFP Similar scenes unfolded in Milan and Naples, where street vendors offered lemonade to tourists and locals alike, trying to bring some relief from the stifling heat. 'There is no wind, a lot of humidity, we are sweating, and I'm suffocating at night,' said Alejandra Echeverria, a 40-year-old tourist from Mexico visiting Rome, speaking to AFP on Saturday. In Spain, locals and tourists struggled under soaring temperatures, with the southern city of Seville hitting 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Other areas across southern and central Spain also experienced extreme heat. Southern parts of the country reported temperatures well above the seasonal average, prompting officials to issue public health alerts and safety advice. Spain's national meteorological service, Aemet, has said that June is on track to become the hottest on record since official data collection began. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Wildfire breaks out in Greece as heat rises As temperatures in Greece climbed close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), a major wildfire broke out south of Athens last week. The blaze forced authorities to close parts of the coastal road that connects the city to Sounion, the site of the ancient Temple of Poseidon—a major tourist attraction. To battle the flames, Greek officials deployed 130 firefighters, along with 12 planes and 12 helicopters. Police evacuated 40 people, and evacuation orders were issued in five areas. Flames rise above Thymari, near Athens, after wildfires broke out on Friday. Reuters Portugal is also under extreme heat pressure. Nearly two-thirds of the country was placed on high alert on Sunday, with temperatures in the capital, Lisbon, expected to reach 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Officials also warned of a heightened risk of forest fires across the region. What's behind the severe heatwaves in Europe? Experts say human-driven climate change is playing a major role in driving the extreme heat sweeping across Europe, especially in urban areas, where temperatures rise even higher due to what's known as the 'urban heat island' effect. This happens when heat gets trapped between buildings, concrete, and asphalt, making cities significantly hotter than surrounding rural areas. Emanuela Piervitali, a researcher at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, explained that heatwaves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense over recent years. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Experts say human-driven climate change is playing a major role in driving the extreme heat sweeping across Europe, especially in urban areas, where temperatures rise even higher due to what's known as the 'urban heat island' effect. File image/Reuters 'The heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, with peaks of 37 degrees [98.6 degrees Fahrenheit] or even more in cities, where the urban heat island effect raises the temperatures even further,' she told The Telegraph. She also warned that things could get worse in the future. 'A further increase in temperature and heat extremes is expected in the future, so we will have to get used to temperatures with peaks even higher than those we are experiencing now.' Another factor behind the current heatwave is a high-pressure system known as a 'heat dome.' This weather pattern acts like a lid, trapping hot, dry air over a region and causing temperatures to rise steadily. As this dome moves eastward, it's pulling in hot air from North Africa, making conditions across southern Europe even more severe, reports The New York Times. A Lancet Public Health study published last year warned that heat-related deaths in Europe could triple by the end of the century, particularly in southern countries like Italy, Greece, and Spain. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Even if world leaders manage to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)—a target set under the Paris Agreement—the study found that the combined yearly death toll from heat and cold could still increase from 4,07,000 today to about 4,50,000 by 2100. With input from agencies
Al Etihad
29-06-2025
- Climate
- Al Etihad
Cold baths, climate shelters as Southern Europe heatwave intensifies
29 June 2025 15:51 ROME (AFP)Authorities across Southern Europe urged people to seek shelter Sunday and protect the most vulnerable as punishing temperatures from Spain to Portugal, Italy and France climbed higher in the summer's first major stood on standby near tourist hotspots and regions issued fire warnings as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more of 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) were expected in areas of southern Spain and Portugal, while nearly all of France is sweltering in heat expected to last for several Italy, 21 cities were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and emergency departments across Italy have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.'We've seen around a 10 percent increase, mainly in cities that not only have very high temperatures but also a higher humidity rate. It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,' he told AFP.'Climate Shelters'Hospitals like the Ospedale dei Colli in Naples have set up dedicated heatstroke pathways to speed access to vital treatments like cold water immersion, Guarino Venice, authorities offered free guided tours for people over 75s in air-conditioned museums and public has set up seven "climate shelters" with air conditioning and drinking water, Florence has called on doctors to flag up the lonely and vulnerable, Ancona is delivering dehumidifiers to the needy, and Rome has offered free access to city swimming pools for those over 70. Scientists say climate change is stoking hotter and more intense heatwaves, particularly in cities where the so-called "urban heat island" effect amplifies temperatures among tightly packed buildings. 'The heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, with peaks of 37 degrees or even more in cities, where the urban heat island effect raises the temperatures even further,' said Emanuela Piervitali, a researcher at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).'A further increase in temperature and heat extremes is expected in the future, so we will have to get used to temperatures with peaks even higher than those we are experiencing now,' she told AFP. Invasive SpeciesIn Portugal, several areas in the southern half of the country, including the capital Lisbon, are under a red warning for heat until Monday night due to 'persistently extremely high maximum temperature values', according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA). Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires, as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes France, experts warned that the heat was also severely impacting biodiversity.'With this stifling heat, the temperature can exceed 40 degrees in some nests,' said Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO).'We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere; our seven care centers are saturated,' he is also attracting tropical invasive species, which thrive in hotter ISPRA launched a campaign this week urging fishermen and tourists alike to report sightings of four "potentially dangerous" venomous species. The lionfish, silver-cheeked toadfish, dusky spinefoot and marbled spinefoot are beginning to appear in waters off southern Italy as the Mediterranean warms, it said.
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Roman lime kiln found by archaeologists in Gloucestershire
Archaeologists say an "exceptionally well preserved" artefact may be the first to be found in a former Roman Archaeology unearthed a lime kiln during work on the Centre Severn site near Tenpin in Barnwood, Gloucester, known to the Romans as Glevum, between September 2020 and February structure, measuring 4m (13ft) across and 2m (6.5ft) high, would have been covered in earth and turf and used to make quicklime, a key ingredient in building materials such as mortar and also discovered two Roman buildings, and the grave of a woman in her 40s, radiocarbon dated to AD 226-336 which is during the time of Roman Britain. The lime kiln, made of stone blocks set in clay, is thought to be the first excavated in Archaeology believes it had a relatively short working life having either collapsed naturally or been surveys at the Centre Severn site suggested extensive Roman remains may lie Roman activity cut a ditch through its north-eastern side, further confirming that it was abandoned by the 3rd Century. Paolo Guarino, post excavation assistant manager at Cotswold Archaeology, said it was a significant find."The kiln itself is quite rare in Gloucestershire."As far as I know, this is the only one that has been fully excavated in the county."Roman kilns are well-known but not that widespread."Mr Guarino said the kiln may have been part of a larger findings from the excavation have allowed the group to build a better picture of how the past landscape may have looked."We are able to tell a bit more detail every time we get our hands on it," he added.
