Severe heat in Vietnam and across the southern hemisphere, why?

This is the main content of the bulletin recently released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). However, El Nino is not the main cause of the intense, unusual and prolonged heat wave throughout February.

February 2024 was recorded as a historic, severe and unusual heat wave in many places around the world.

Not only daytime but also nighttime temperatures were at record highs in February in many countries across Africa. Southern Africa in particular saw temperatures 4-5°C above the February average.

Similar conditions were also recorded in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. Most notably, Saravanh in southern Laos recorded a temperature of 38.2°C on February 21; where the average February temperature is around 31 - 32°C.

Many locations in southern and eastern China as well as in Japan also recorded new temperature records on February 18-20.

However, the real "hot spot" in the southern hemisphere is Australia. In February, Perth recorded temperatures of 40°C seven times, the highest of any month of the year.

More notably, the town of Carnarvon recorded a temperature of 49.9°C on February 18. This is a new record for this station and the second highest February temperature recorded in Australia. Meanwhile, at Emu Creek station, the record temperature of 49.1°C was recorded on February 22. Equally remarkable, this is also the place where 4 consecutive days (from February 17 to 20) recorded temperatures of 48°C or higher - the first time that has happened in the land of kangaroos.

In South America, high temperatures and prolonged drought in some areas led to the worst wildfires on record in February in Brazil and Chile. More than 132 people are believed to have died and more than 20,000 have been affected by the fires. More than 6,000 hectares of land were burned in the devastating fires.

While the Southern Hemisphere was scorching hot, the rest of the winter was warmer than normal. In particular, most of Europe (except Northern Europe) had average February temperatures at least 2°C warmer than normal, with some areas such as Eastern and Southern Europe even experiencing temperatures 4-6°C higher than normal.

In addition, extreme weather was also recorded in many places such as most of northwestern Canada, Central Asia, from south-central Siberia to southeastern China witnessed exceptionally cold spells in the last week of February.

Meteorologist Alvaro Silva, of the WMO, said: Temperatures have been rising abnormally since June 2023. Including January 2024, it has been 7 consecutive months that global monthly temperatures have set new records (compared to the average of previous years). Global sea surface temperatures are at record highs. El Niño is the cause of the increase in temperatures in some parts of the world. The main cause of this situation is climate change, caused by humans.

The South sets a new temperature record in February

In the South, the historical temperature recorded in February was 37°C in Bien Hoa (Dong Nai), in 2016 and 2020. But in February 2024, the new record for the highest temperature reached 38°C, also in Bien Hoa, on February 15.

In addition, widespread heat waves also began on February 9 and lasted almost the entire month on a large scale, with many places, especially in the Southeast region, regularly reaching temperatures of 36 - 37°C. Compared to many years, the heat waves occurred about a month earlier and more intense.

(According to the Southern Regional Hydrometeorological Station)

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