Moroccan climate experts are warning that the severe heatwave the country is currently experiencing will continue.
They say temperatures are reaching as high as 47 degrees Celsius in many regions and will likely last until at least Friday.
“Dry and hot desert wind from the southern Moroccan Sahara, also known as the Sirocco, continues to blow northward toward the Mediterranean coast of Europe. This period between the end of July and August will record higher temperatures,” said climate expert Mustafa Aisset.
He added that because of the direct impact of climate change on weather, the country will experience more heatwaves and they will be hotter and longer than they are currently.
As the sun beats down, and the sale of electric fans soar, Moroccans have been heading to the coast for some respite.
Officials are warning people to protect themselves from the heat and to stay alert for symptoms of heat-related illnesses.
Last week, the heatwave claimed 21 lives in the region of Beni Mellal.
Rabat resident, Nadia Seghaier, said because it was too hot at home, her family decided to come to the beach, but they are being very careful.
Local authorities have advised people to avoid swimming between 12h00 and 16h00 when the sun is highest in the sky.
Heatstroke incidents have increased in Morocco as temperatures in the North African country continue to hit record highs.
The punishing heat experienced around the Mediterranean in July would have been “virtually impossible” in a world without global warming, a group of climate scientists said Wednesday.
A deadly heat wave brought temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) to southern Europe and North Africa, where such extreme summer spells are becoming more frequent.
Scorching heat claimed more than 20 lives in a single day in Morocco, fanned wildfires in Greece and the Balkans, and strained athletes competing across France in the Summer Olympic Games.
World Weather Attribution, a network of scientists who have pioneered peer-reviewed methods for assessing the possible role of climate change in specific extreme events, said this case was clear.
“The extreme temperatures reached in July would have been virtually impossible if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels,” according to the report by five researchers.
The analysis looked at the average July temperature and focused on a region that included Morocco, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.
Scientists used this and other climate data to assess how the heat in July compared to similar periods in a world before humanity began rapidly burning oil, coal and gas.
They concluded the heat recorded in Europe was up to 3.3 C (5.9 F) hotter because of climate change.
Beyond the Mediterranean, intense heat reached Paris this week where athletes competing in the Olympic Games withered as temperatures hit the mid-30s C, or low 90s F, this week.
“Extremely hot July months are no longer rare events,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, a co-author of the study.
“In today’s climate … Julys with extreme heat can be expected about once a decade,” she said.
Scientists have long established that climate change is driving extreme weather and making heat waves longer, hotter and more frequent.
This latest episode came in a month when global temperatures soared to their highest levels on record, with the four hottest days ever observed by scientists etched into the history books in July.
The past 13 months have been the warmest such period on record, exceeding a 1.5 C (2.7 F) limit that scientists say must be kept intact over the long term to avoid catastrophic climate change.
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