From Europe, to China and the USAthe northern hemisphere has been experiencing unbearable heat conditions since the weekend, forcing the authorities of many countries to take drastic measures to deal with the wave of extreme heat and fires, attributed to climate change.

In Italy, which is affected by the heat wave from the north to the south, is expected to break the records of high temperatures recorded in the country in the coming days. Tomorrow Sunday, 16 cities have been put on red alert: the mercury will climb to 36-37°C from Rome to Bologna, and the peak of extremes is expected at the beginning of the week.

“Here is a furnace. It’s impossible to stand in one place for long,” said 16-year-old Veronika Niederlovy, a tourist from the Czech Republic visiting Rome.

According to Il Messaggero newspaper, two amateur footballers aged 48 and 51 they died on Friday night after feeling unwell, possibly due to the heat, during games in the Naples area.

The Italian meteorological service fears that this heat wave will be not only the hottest this summer but “one of the most intense of all time”.

On Tuesday in Milan the temperature is expected to reach 38°C.

Similar conditions exist in other European countries. In Germany, according to today’s forecast of the meteorological service, the mercury may rise up to 38 degrees, with Bavaria being the hardest hit: 37.9 degrees in Mehrendorf-Kleinzebach, 37.2 in Kitchigen. In Berlin the thermometer showed 35 degrees and in Munich 34.

In France, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesno came under fire from paleoclimatologist Valerie Masson-Delmotte for asserting that the temperature “is normal for summer.” June was the second hottest month on record in French history, with many regions on heat alert since last Tuesday.

In Spain, a new wave of heat is expected to hit the country between Monday and Wednesday, after the short “break” of the weekend. Last week the temperature exceeded 40°C in Andalusia and the Canary Islands. “This new wave will be short but fierce: we will exceed 42 degrees,” the weather service Aemet said on Twitter.

On the opposite bank, at Moroccothe new heat wave is expected to hit the country until Tuesday, with temperatures ranging from 37 to 47 degrees Celsius.

In Asia, many provinces in southern and southeastern China will experience high temperatures this weekend (between 35-40 degrees) according to the Central Meteorological Observatory. Some cities in northwestern China may record even higher temperatures.

In Japanthe government called on residents to be especially careful since tomorrow and Monday the eastern provinces will “bake” at 39 degrees Celsius.

In the southern US, millions of people from California to Texas and Florida are threatened by dangerously high temperatures that will reach their peak this weekend. The National Weather Service (NWS) even expects “many records” to be broken.

In Phoenix, Arizona, the thermometer read 47 degrees today – the 16th consecutive day that the temperature has remained consistently above 43°C in the city.

Fires

In southern California, firefighters have been battling since Friday to extinguish dozens of wildfires that have forced authorities to evacuate some communities.

In June, smoke from wildfires in Canada, where more than 500 wildfires are burning out of control, dramatically increased air pollution in the northeastern US.

Fires also broke out in the forests of Ajloun, in Jordan, which is suffering from a heat wave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in some places.

More than 20,000 hectares burned today in a few hours in La Palma, Spain, where 2,500 residents had to be evacuated from their homes, according to the authorities of the Canary Islands.