This letter is in reference to a front-page news item "Heatwave kills several in Europe -- France hits record 45.1C" published in the Financial Express on June 29, 2019 which depicted several deaths due to scorching and record-breaking heat wave blanketing much of Europe.
France has recorded its all-time hottest temperature amid a European heat wave that has prompted governments to issue health alerts, urging people to keep cool. Temperatures in France reached a record 45.1C (113.2F) as countries elsewhere in the continent continued to swelter under the heat.
Heatwaves occur across northern Europe when high atmospheric pressure draws up hot air from northern Africa, Portugal and Spain, raising temperatures and increasing humidity. In this instance, the exceptionally hot air has come from the Sahara.
Heat waves are not uncommon, but according to weather experts they are being amplified by a rise in global temperatures and are likely to become more frequent -- one of the more predictable impacts of the warming climate.
It is not possible to pin-point the current heat wave definitively on climate change. But the possible effect of climate change cannot be ruled out at all. Industrial emissions are usually spread profoundly from the developed countries in Europe which helps to prevail the heat wave in temperature. The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric greenhouse are difficult to predict, but certain effects are likely to be ascertained. Warmer conditions will probably lead to more evaporation and precipitation overall, but individual regions will vary, some becoming wetter and others dryer which could change the climate.
If the current trend continues, heat waves across Europe may occur as often as every other year by the 2040s, with the possibility that temperatures may rise by three to five centigrades by 2100.
Md Zillur Rahaman
Satish Sarker Road
Gandaria, Dhaka
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