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Record breaking, scorching temperatures of over 40ºC, like the ones stifling the United Kingdom on Tuesday, are expected to become the norm within the next 40 years as climate change accelerates, according to warnings by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Firefighters across France, Spain and other parts of Europe have been working tirelessly to tame the blazes as an intense heatwave engulfs the continent and is set to continue into next week.
WMO secretary general Petteri Taalas told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that humans “had pumped so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that we’ll continue to see this for decades to come”. Aside from high carbon concentration levels in the air, Taalas pointed out that emissions have started to grow rapidly after a short respite during pandemic lockdowns and said he hoped the current event would be a wakeup call for the world.
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