Meteorologists warn that extreme heat will become more frequent in Chile's summer. More than 6 million residents of the Chilean capital Santiago have already endured hot, dry days.
Chile's climate agency officially declared a heat wave when temperatures exceeded 33 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days.
"It's so hot, you can't go out," student Marcela Rodriguez told Reuters ; "Two minutes outside and you can faint."
Santiago authorities have issued a red alert for the metropolitan area and the O'Higgins region due to extreme heat. Meanwhile, free water stations have been set up in many public places to serve people when going out.
"Many people have seen others collapse from the heat," said Karina Flores, who works at the water station. "They can walk here and pour themselves a glass of water and not have to keep buying bottles of water."
Climate experts have predicted an extremely hot summer, largely due to the cyclical El Nino weather phenomenon that warms the Pacific Ocean , and have warned that climate change and El Nino are the main causes of the extreme temperatures.
As temperatures soared in the capital Santiago, many people headed to Chile's coastal areas to escape the heat, which is already crowded with foreign tourists on vacation and summer vacations. One Argentine tourist said he had taken a break from the heat at a Chilean coastal resort as high temperatures were also recorded in parts of neighboring Argentina.
MH (t/h)
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