At 48.8 ° C, Sicily could have broken the all-time heat record in Europe

The Italian island of Sicily may have broken continental Europe’s heat record, in the latest example of how climate change is causing extreme weather events around the world.

Temperatures on the island reached 48.8 ° C on Wednesday, the Sicilian weather service reported. If officially verified, it would surpass the record of 48 ° C recorded in Athens, Greece, in 1977, according to data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published by Arizona State University.

The scorching heat adds to the unusual weather conditions seen across Europe: Turkey is fighting the worst forest fires in its history; recently, parts of Germany have been the scene of severe flooding; and the UK is experiencing more intense storms. Other latitudes have also had to endure extreme conditions this year, with severe frosts in Texas crippling the electrical system in sub-zero temperatures that damaged crops in Brazil.

Europe’s record heat comes just days after a United Nations-backed report warned the planet would warm by 1.5 ° C over the next two decades. if drastic measures are not taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Italy has already suffered some of the impacts, such as the decline in ski areas in the regions of the Alps and the worst floods in half a century that were recorded in 2019 in the city of canals: Venice.

For the new European temperature record to be officially recognized, a WMO committee will need to verify the circumstances and instrumentation of the data, according to an Axios report. An email sent to the WMO office in Geneva, Switzerland did not receive an immediate response outside of normal business hours.