Blazing temperatures in Türkiye expected to prevail in 2024: Expert
ISTANBUL
With the entire globe witnessing the "highest temperatures in 120,000 years" as a result of El Nino, an expert has warned that Türkiye will continue to experience record-breaking temperatures, indicating that the following year will be significantly warmer.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced in its assessment for the past week that there have not been such high temperatures recorded worldwide since 1850.
With destructive floods in the north and blazing wildfires in the south and southwest, Türkiye has not been immune to the effects of these changing weather patterns as well, while meteorologists issue warnings that temperatures are exceeding 40 degrees in several regions.
Giving insights about the seasonal forecasts for Türkiye, Fırat Çukurçayır, a prominent meteorologist, noted that it is predicted that the country will continue to experience temperatures above the norms until October, and the Aegean, Mediterranean, Central Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia regions have a more suitable structure for breaking temperature records.
The effects of the El Nino phenomenon on temperatures usually occur the year after it develops, so the impacts Türkiye is currently experiencing in 2023 will likely be most pronounced in 2024, the expert remarked.
“The year 2016 was the warmest year on record due to a very strong El Nino event and anthropogenic warming from greenhouse gases. A WMO report published in May, just before the El Nino event, predicts that at least one of the next five years or the entire five-year period will be the hottest on record with a 98 percent probability, surpassing the temperature record set in 2016, the year of an exceptionally strong El Nino.”
The expert added that July 2023 is set to be the hottest July Türkiye has seen on record, yet it would not be a surprise if the country experiences an even hotter July in 2024, given that the effects of El Nino last for a year.
Reminding that hundreds of people lost their lives in Europe last year as a result of a heat wave, Çukurçayır said it is likely that heat-related deaths will increase all over the world from now on.
Climate scientists point out that the average global temperature has not been this high since the end of the last ice age, 120,000 years ago, particularly in light of data indicating that the past 10 years have seen the highest temperatures since the 1800s.
