South Korea records its highest temperature in a century

The city of Yangsan in southeastern South Korea reached 42,5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, an all-time record since national weather records began. This heat wave is part of a series of extreme weather events simultaneously affecting several continents.

At 13:26 p.m. local time this Sunday, the temperature soared to 42,5°C in Yangsan, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). This marked the fifth consecutive day that the city had exceeded 40°C, a level the region had never reached for such a long period. The previous national temperature record had stood for over a century.

Heatwave warnings remain in effect across much of South Korea, with temperatures reaching 37 to 38°C in many cities. More than 20 locations were under a heatwave emergency alert on Sunday, a category created this year to address the worsening summer weather. This alert level is triggered when the perceived temperature exceeds 38°C or when the actual temperature reaches 39°C in a single day.

KMA data reveals that the average annual number of heatwave days has more than doubled in the last five years, rising to nineteen days compared to an average of eight in the 1970s. The agency considers any day where the maximum temperature reaches at least 33°C to be a heatwave day.

Scientists point out that human-caused climate change is making heat waves more frequent, longer, and more intense. The situation in Korea is just one episode in a worrying global picture.

In Japan, the heat persists across both eastern and western regions, prompting authorities to issue heatwave warnings in 30 of the country's 47 prefectures. In Europe, wildfires fueled by high temperatures and strong winds are raging in parts of Greece, forcing residents to evacuate, while Spain and France are experiencing hot, dry conditions that increase the risk of new fires.

In North Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are battling major wildfires fueled by extreme heat and strong winds. Tunisia has called in foreign firefighting aircraft to protect threatened forests, farmland, and villages. In the United States, a dangerous heat wave is gripping the West, where forecasters warn that records could be broken while exacerbating fire risks in areas already suffering from drought.