Europe’s hottest ever temperature recorded in Sicily

mappa temperatura Sicilia ed Italia 2021 al sahawat times giornale italiano


Europe’s hottest ever temperature recorded on Italy’s largest island –  Sicily


Climate Change | Mediterranean | Italy | Sicily

Fact Box: Wild Fires are common in the Mediterranean, yet summer 2021 has seen record high temperatures and the most intense fires on record spreading from Turkey, across Greece, the Balkan States, North Africa and Italy and the Italian islands.

Siracusa (also called Syracuse in some countries), a large city on the southeast coast of Italy’s infamous southern island Sicily (Sicilia/Isula di Sicula) recorded Europe’s highest ever air temperature on Wednesday. The temperature of 48.8 C has now been recorded as the highest air temperature ever formally recorded in Europe.

The record breaks the 1977 record of 48.0 recorded in Greece’s Athens.

The record currently being verified by the (WMO) World Meteorological Organisation comes as Italy, Algeria, the Balkans, Greece and Turkey are experiencing the most intense wild fires in recorded history.

Fact Box: Air Temperature is the temperature thermometers usually record and is what it sounds like, the temperature of the air itself. Real Feel or Human Perceived temperature is the temperature experienced by human skin when taking the air temperature, humidity and wind speed into consideration. iPhones’ weather applications often give the Real Feel temperature along side or under neither the air temperature. In cold conditions this is colloquially known as the ‘wind chill’. In hotter conditions the Real Feel is typically higher than the air temperature and can be significantly so. Oman for example frequently sees Real Feel temperatures in access of 14-20 C higher than the air temperature. 

mappa-sicilia-al-sahawat-times

Randy Cerveny, a representative from the WMO initially told Sky news that the recording didn’t sound realistic and was suspicious requiring investigation. However it is now looking likely that this is Europe’s new highest ever recorded temperature.

The high pressure system currently over the Mediterranean is near the all time recorded high levels, causing unprecedented heat and wild fires.

Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections said the near-record strength high pressure system is likely to produce unprecedented heat somewhere in the Mediterranean, with North Africa’s temperatures nearing all time recorded highs.

Francesco Italia, the mayor of Siracusa told La Repubblica that the record:

“worries us. We are devastated by the fires and our ecosystem, one of the richest and more precious in Europe, is at risk. We are in full emergency.” 

More than 3’000 fire fighting operations involving multiple fighter fighting aircraft have been conducted just in Sicily and Calabria is the last 12 hours alone.

_

© 2021 Al-Sahawat Times, Printed and Distributed by IPMG, an Al-Said Group entity. 


Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Al-Sahawat Times than ever but advertising revenues across the global media industry are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a total paywall. We want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. Al-Sahawat Times’ independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe truly ethical media and an unbias perspective really matters.

“I appreciate there not being a paywall: it is more democratic for the media to be available for all and not a commodity to be purchased by a few. I’m happy to make a contribution so others with less means still have access to information.”

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, the future of ethical media and the futures of our staff and their families would be much more secure. For as little as £1, you can support Al-Sahawat Times and it only takes a minute. Thank you.




This story is available on:

APPLE NEWS | AL-SAHAWAT TIMES


Talk to a journalist

Email: NewsDesk@alsahawat.com

Web: alsahawat.com

Follow Al-Sahawat Times

⬆️ Follow on Instagram

⬆️ Follow on Twitter

⬆️ Follow on LinkedIn

⬆️ Follow on Facebook

⬆️ Follow on YouTube

Read it on APPLE NEWS

Read it on FLIPBOARD

Views: 0

About the Author