The ground temperature exceeds 50 degrees Cº in Turkey and Cyprus!
Eva Deschamps / August 4, 2021
Intense heat waves in Turkey and Cyprus have seen ground-level temperatures rise to more than 50 degrees Celsius for the second time in a month, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Tuesday.
Turkey is experiencing the worst fires in a decade, ravaging forests and farmland as well as populated areas on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts.
The Agency has published a map of the region where several parts appear in deep red. A map published on July 2, gathering data collected by its satellite Sentinel-3, of the European program Copernicus, presented the same characteristics.
Weather forecasts predict air temperatures. The data collected by the satellite measures the actual level of energy radiating from the ground, so it shows the temperatures at ground level, ESA said.
These temperatures are those that one would feel if one touched the ground at a given place, according to the explanations of the Nasa.
In recent days, temperatures above forty degrees (in the air), in several cities in Turkey, have caused a record increase in electricity consumption, resulting in power cuts on Monday in major cities such as Ankara and Istanbul.
Neighboring Greece has been hit by the worst heat wave since 1987.
According to scientists, these heat waves are an unequivocal marker of global warming and are expected to multiply, lengthen and intensify.