Poland was hit by record flooding, heat and smog last year. On May 13th, we received the first signal that extreme temperatures were on the way. Then IMWM issued its first warning about a hot summer. Grzegorz Walijewski, a spokesman for the institute, said long-term forecasts showed the summer could be unusually hot.
See also: Winter has arrived in Poland. New IMWM warning
The first heatwave in Poland started on June 18th. Due to the expected high temperatures, Krakow has closed the carriage stop in the main market square. The next day, cities announced they would install water curtains for residents.
Record year, 2024. From heat and drought to major floods in Poland
On June 19, the inhabitants of Poland had already finished the first so-called war. Tropical night. “Temperatures did not drop below 20 degrees Celsius last night in the south of the country, in the four counties of Opole, Silesia, Lesser Poland and Podkarpackie, as well as in the local Lubelskie county,” said IMWM weather forecaster Ilona Simigrodzka.
On July 1st, after a hot weekend, the weather took a turn for the worse in the Tatra Mountains. Heavy rain caused mountain streams to swell, and some mountain trails were flooded. Earlier in the month, Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Agnieszka Dzemjanovic-Baku ordered preparatory work aimed at regulating work at high temperatures and protecting employees from the heat. On July 23, IMWM reported hydrological drought in 10 provinces.
On Aug. 18, firefighters made 444 storm-related interventions, according to a report by State Fire Marshal’s Office spokesman Brig. Karol Kieszkowski. Just two days later, the capital was flooded and the city faced difficulties due to heavy rains. President Rafał Trzaskowski established a crisis management team. The following items were found in the water: Routes S7 and S8.
Overview of the country’s weather for the year
It was also very warm in early September. IMWM continues to warn of a heatwave, reporting that on the 10th of the same month, temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius across the country and a record low water level (20 centimeters) was recorded at the Warsaw Blvary Observation Station.
On September 12, Poland fell under the control of the Boris cyclone. The IMWM forecast for Lower Silesia, Opole, Silesia and Lesser Poland counties predicts rainfall of up to 150 liters per square meter over four days. Two days later, flooding began in southern Poland. On October 25, flights from Modlin Airport were ordered to be diverted due to heavy fog, and flights from Krakow Airport were canceled.
According to IMWM’s analysis, the average temperature anomaly for the first six days of December was plus 1.3 degrees Celsius. On December 28, the plane did not land in Krakow and Katowice due to heavy fog.
Extreme weather events around the world in 2024. New temperature record broken
However, weather disruptions did not only occur in our country. In early January, water levels in the Panama Canal dropped due to a prolonged drought. The water level was 1.8 meters below normal.
On the 12th of this month, a record low temperature of -48 degrees Celsius was recorded in British Columbia, Canada. A week later, thermometers in northern France hit an all-time low of -14.6 degrees Celsius. On January 21st, Australia was hit by an unusual heatwave. Temperature records were broken there too (although it was hot). It was 50.7 degrees Celsius at Pilbara Airport.
In February, 2,940 wildfires broke out in the northern Amazon forest. This is a record number of such events since record-keeping began 25 years ago. The main causes were prolonged drought, climate change, and El Niño, or above-average temperatures in the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Fires in the Amazon and Australia. evacuation was ordered
On February 22nd, 2,000 people in Australia were ordered to evacuate due to wildfires in Victoria state. In early March, the largest fire in history occurred in the US state of Texas. On March 11th, record heavy rains occurred in Zadar. Homes were flooded across much of the city, and the resulting storm cut off nearby islands from the mainland.
In late May, heavy rains caused flooding in central Afghanistan’s Ghor province. On the 28th of this month, a maximum temperature of 52 degrees Celsius was recorded in southern Pakistan, and in New Delhi, India, a maximum temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius was recorded on May 29th.
On June 12, Greece introduced a “mini-lockdown” due to the heat. The Acropolis of Athens was closed to tourists for part of the day. Some people were working remotely, and schools were closed.
On June 19, at least 500 pilgrims to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) died due to the heat. Just two days later, severe flooding struck southeast China, killing more than 47 people. By the end of the month, monsoon rains had left 2 million people homeless in Bangladesh.
Asian flood
In early July, it was compiled that 13.5 thousand people were recorded on Amazon. Fires since the beginning of the year. On the 3rd of this month, 240,000 people were evacuated in China. People in areas at risk of flooding. A week later, Greek authorities reported that June was the warmest June since 1960. European climate change monitoring service Copernicus reported that July 22 was the world’s warmest day on record. On that day, the average temperature on the Earth’s surface reached 17.16 degrees Celsius.
See also: Heatwave in Greece. The tragic balance is growing
On August 12th, a fire the size of Paris broke out in Greece, and firefighters worked to extinguish it. The following week, monsoon rains killed 26 people in India and Bangladesh. The entire month of August was marked by heat and fires in Europe.
On September 6, 400,000 people were evacuated in China. Due to the effects of Typhoon Yagi, there were fewer people in attendance. Days later, floods killed at least 30 people and injured 400,000 in Nigeria. I had to evacuate. In the United States, the death toll from Hurricane Helen was reported to have reached 90 at the end of last month.
2024 European Flood. Valencia suffered
Heavy rains caused flash floods across Europe in October. The disaster killed more than 200 people in Spain’s Valencia region.
See also: Residents blame authorities over Valencia floods. “There was no warning.”
November was found to be the second warmest November in the world on record (after November 2023), with an average temperature at the Earth’s surface of 14.10 degrees Celsius, which is higher than the 1991-2020 average. It was 0.73 degrees higher.
At the COP29 climate summit in Baku, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Sauro said that 2024 will be the hottest year on record due to a series of abnormally high monthly average temperatures around the world. said. On November 17, super typhoon Manyi hit the Philippines, killing 162 people.
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