Summer 2025 already a cavalcade of climate extremes

Heat record, massive fires, fatal floods … August barely started, but summer 2025 is already marked by a destructive and mortal stunt in the northern hemisphere.

“Extreme temperatures and precipitation has become more intense and more frequent on a global scale,” said Sonia Seneviratne, professor at Eth Zurich and member of the unit, the IPCC climate science consultative panel.

“We are in the middle of climate change,” Fred Hattermann, scientist at the Institute of Climate Research (PIK) told AFP.

“The risk of extreme events has increased significantly,” he said, noting that 2024 was the first year when the average surface temperature of the earth was 1.6 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial reference.

This trumpetly small jump makes a huge difference.

Higher temperatures increase evaporation, so more water is stored in the atmosphere. This, in turn, increases the risk of strong precipitation and floods.

“With each increase in temperature, the risk of more and stronger extremes increases,” added Hattermann.

50C in the Gulf, Türkiye

Already in May, temperatures exceeded 50 ° C in the United Arab Emirates. On August 1, the thermometer reached 51.8 ° C, just under the record of all time of 52c.

The entire Gulf region is suffocating: the Saudi capital Riyadh has recorded temperatures of 44 ° C, while Kuwait frequently reached 50 ° C.

Like Iraq, where air conditioning has become vulnerable to chronic power cuts, and water reserves have been at their lowest level for years.

Turkey has seen the threshold 50C exceeded for the first time: the city of Silopi on the border with Iraq and Syria reached 50.5 ° C on July 26.

The country has experienced thousands of fires this summer in the midst of a serious drought.

In Asia, during this time, Japan broke its temperature record of all time on Tuesday with 41.8c in the city of Isesaki, northwest of Tokyo. The emblematic cherry trees of the country, emblematic of the archipelago, flourish earlier than ever in heat.

Torrential rains in Hong Kong

Tuesday, Hong Kong saw the total of the highest precipitation for August in more than 140 years of registry: 35.5 centimeters (14 inches) in a single day.

On continental China, a week earlier, bad weather killed at least 44 people and left nine missing in rural districts north of Beijing.

Pakistani floods, Finland’s warmth

266 people, almost half of the children, have already lost their lives in Pakistan due to torrential rains that sweep the country.

The 2025 monsoon, which started early, was described as “unusual” by the authorities. Punjab, the most populous province in Pakistan, recorded 73% more precipitation in July than in 2024.

People come to Scandinavia to search for fresher climates, but since July Norway, Sweden and Finland have experienced more typical temperatures in the Mediterranean.

August 3 marked the end of a period of 22 days with temperatures above 30 ° C in Finland: a record.

In Rovaniemi, a Finnish city north of the Arctic Circle, temperatures have reached 30 ° C, higher than in southern Europe at the same time.

Mega-Fires in Canada

Canada is experiencing one of the worst forest fire seasons never recorded, amplified by drought and temperatures greater than normal.

Other parts of the world also burn, from Scotland to Arizona and Greece.

According to the Impaired European Union and climate observatory, total smoke and greenhouse gas emissions since the start of summer in the northern hemisphere are among the highest registered.

© 2025 AFP