SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – A storm that hit the northeastern United States on Saturday (15) killed at least five people in the state of Pennsylvania and left two children – a 2-year-old and another 9 months- old – missing.

“We are continuing to search for the two children,” Upper Makefield Township Fire Chief Tim Brewer, where the search is taking place, told a news conference. “We’re not going to give up at all.” Nearly 6 inches (17cm) of rain fell Saturday in Bucks County, where the municipality is located, in 45 minutes – enough to cause flooding and drive vehicles through the city, the official said.

On Sunday (16), New York Governor Kathy Hochul asked residents of her state to avoid traveling as long as the rains persisted. “Your car can go from a safe place to a deadly place,” the Democrat said.

Returning to normal activities may take some time. The rains were expected to end on Monday (17) after leaving a trail of destruction across much of the Northeast in recent days, particularly in Vermont. According to the National Weather Service, however, the weather is expected to remain as it is for days or weeks.

Meanwhile, more than 80 million Americans, or a quarter of the US population, were under extreme heat warnings on Sunday. The heatwave is affecting the west, south and southeast of the country, amid record global temperatures in recent days – the first week of July was the hottest week on record globally.

California’s desert Death Valley reached 53C on Sunday, according to the weather bureau, although the famous Furnace Creek temperature panel showed 56C. In July 1913, the dial showed the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth: 56.7°C.

About 20 tourists gathered around the plaque waiting to see a new record, while US national park rangers watched visitors, waiting in case anyone succumbed to the heat. “I think it would be really cool to be here on the hottest day on Earth,” said Kayla Hill, 24, of Utah.

Residents of Phoenix, capital of Arizona in the southwest, experienced the 17th straight day with temperatures above 43C and this Tuesday (18) hope to equal the record set in June 1974, when the city had experienced 18 days in a row with such a mark. Heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is ​​located, have increased in recent years, from 338 in 2021 to 425 in 2022. So far this year has seen 12 heat-related deaths and 55 are still under investigation. .

According to the National Weather Service, record heat levels are also expected in the southwest. In the northwest, thermometers are predicted to hit 43C – a particularly dangerous scenario for a region unaccustomed to excessive heat, as many homes are not air-conditioned.

Scientists and climate experts say warming caused by fossil fuels is already causing and intensifying extreme events like those seen in the United States in recent days and warning that the world must drastically reduce carbon emissions to avoid catastrophe.

The heat-ignited fires have destroyed more than 1,200 acres in southern California. In Canada, more than 10 million hectares have been destroyed since the start of the year, a number well above that recorded in 2022. Forest fires.

Other countries in the northern hemisphere are also facing intense heat waves. In Italy, 16 cities are under red alert, with highs ranging from 36°C to 37°C. In Spain, the weather agency has issued alerts for temperatures of 38°C to 42°C in several regions of the country, in addition to a red alert (extreme danger) for areas of Andalusia and Aragon, Catalonia and Majorca, where temperatures could reach 44°C.

In the summer of last year, more than 60,000 people died from extreme temperatures in Europe alone, according to a recent study. This week, an anticyclone dubbed Charon could send Europe shattering its highest temperature on record, 48.8°C, possibly on the Italian island of Sardinia.

In Japan, authorities have issued heatstroke warnings in 20 of the country’s 47 prefectures due to temperatures approaching 40C. In China, high temperatures are threatening power grids and crops and raising fears of another drought like last year – the worst in 60 years. Sanbao, a remote city in the country’s arid northwest, recorded a national record high of 52.2C over the weekend.

In South Korea, torrential rains claimed 40 lives after river levees collapsed, causing flash flooding.

“In many parts of the world, today is predicted to be the hottest day on record,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Monday. “The climate crisis is not a warning. Happened. I urge world leaders to act now.

Essay / Folhapress