South Korea has recorded its highest temperature in more than a century. The country’s government weather agency said the temperature in the south-eastern city of Yangsan reached 42.5 degrees Celsius at 1:26pm local time on Sunday (2 August).
In a report, Indian broadcaster NDTV said the ongoing heatwave had hit Yangsan hardest, where the temperature stayed above 40C for a fifth straight day.
Heatwave warnings are in force across most of South Korea, with temperatures in many cities fluctuating between 38 and 39C.
As a result, “emergency heatwave warnings” were issued in more than 20 areas on Sunday. The new warning system was introduced for the first time this year to cope with rising temperatures driven by climate change.
The emergency warning is issued when the felt temperature in an area is forecast to reach 38C or the actual temperature 39C.
According to South Korea’s weather office, the country has seen an average of 19 heatwave days a year over the past five years, up from just 8 days in the 1970s.
A day is counted as a “heatwave day” when the maximum temperature reaches 33C or above, while a night is called a “tropical night” when the minimum stays at 25C or above.
Scientists say human-induced climate change is making heatwaves and other extreme weather events more frequent and more intense worldwide than before.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report