Scientists warn of more extreme hot weather

Climate scientists have warned that many parts of the world will experience more extreme heat. The experts are from Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation Programme. Its meteorologists analysed world temperatures from satellites, aircraft, weather stations and other databases from around the world. The scientists reported that their figures indicated a high likelihood of an escalation in extreme temperatures. They said: "It was the second warmest June on record for Europe....Heatwave conditions persisted over western North America, where many temperature records were broken. Arctic Siberia also experienced high temperatures."

Professor Peter Stott of the UK's Meteorological Office said: "We are getting used to record high temperatures being recorded somewhere around the world every year now." He added that his primary concern was not the fact that regions are experiencing more heatwaves, but that record high temperatures are increasingly being broken by such large margins. Talking about Canada's recent "heat dome" weather event, professor Stott said: "It is telling us that changes in average climate are leading to rapid escalation not just of extreme temperatures, but of extraordinarily extreme temperatures." The scientists warned that a warming world would mean more droughts and heat-related deaths.