Hottest September records break in 93 sites of Turkey

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

Days after Europe’s climate body’s announcement of the “hottest September on the planet,” Turkish officials declared new high-temperature records of last month in 93 sites of the country on Oct. 12.

“Due to warmer weather beyond the season normal last month, we saw record-breaking changes in temperatures,” said Ahmet Duran Şahin from Istanbul Technical University to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

He blamed the hot air expanding from the Middle East and North Africa to be the reason for the “hottest September.”

According to the data by the Turkish State Meteorological Service, the average temperature over the previous years during September has been 20.5 degrees Celcius. However, this September, due to warmer weather, the average temperature has increased by 3.4 degrees Celcius and reached 23.9.

Turkish State Meteorological Service also observed some extreme rises in temperatures in 93 sites of the country.

According to the statistics, the sites that observed the highest rise, making to the top of the list are Yumurtalık district of the southern province of Adana, Boyabat district of the northern province of Sinop and the Osmaniye province of the Mediterranean region.

The interesting point is that the first and the second hottest sites are on opposite sides of the country.

Noting that “Global warming is undeniable,” Şahin said, “With hot airwaves like from the Middle East and North Africa during the last month, we will feel the effects of the climate change deeply in the coming future.”

According to the academic, these kinds of hot airwaves will bring drought in the future to the country, so plans for short, mid and long terms should be prepared.

He highlighted that in the short and mid-terms, “the country could deal with the fight against drought,” and in the long term, “struggle with climate change.”

Noting the difference between climate and weather forecast and its importance to prepare against the tough weather conditions, he said, “Climate deals with regional atmospheric normals based on long years. Weather forecast approaches short term atmospheric events. We need minimum of 30 years to know about the climate.”

“There are 360 months in 30 years. A change of temperatures in a month cannot be called ‘climate change.’ Last month in September, we had cases of drought across the country. Blaming this to climate change can just be called as not knowing the climate.”

Talking about the droughts, Şahin said, “Droughts are meteorological disasters we have seen in ages. But yes, climate change affects drought.”

He underlined the importance of taking measures from now. “We can minimalize the impacts by taking precautions in time.”

On Oct. 7, Europe’s climate body declared that last September was the warmest month ever recorded on the planet.

“Globally and in Europe, September 2020 was the warmest September on record, with the global average 0.05 degrees Celcius warmer than the previous warmest September in 2019,” Copernicus Climate Change Service had said in a statement.