2022 was extremely hot. The heat wave that affected Europe in July created many problems. +47 degrees was recorded at one point in Portugal, and over 40 in England and France. The USA was also not spared: the power plants there could not cope with the load due to excessive energy consumption and began to fail. In Ukraine the situation was slightly better, but the temperature also reached almost 40 degrees.

What to expect in 2023?

Global temperatures are rising at an alarming rate, which means extreme heat waves are becoming more common. To better prepare for what awaits us, researchers from the UK have identified the countries most at risk of being affected by heatwaves. Among these are not only the countries where the highest heatwave probability is expected. The new study also takes into account factors such as socio-economic conditions, population growth, the stability of energy networks and the availability of health services.

Currently, those most susceptible to the risk of the devastating effects of heat waves are:

• Afghanistan.
• Papua New Guinea.
• Central America.
• Middle Europe.
• China, and especially Beijing, due to its dense population of millions.

The author team states that understanding threats will help better prepare and reduce consequences. Scientists do not rule out that future heat waves will be worse and more devastating than anything we’ve seen so far, so officials and residents should know how to deal with the new challenges. The current problem is that people prepare for scenarios they’ve seen before and are therefore vulnerable to the worst.

Policymakers and governments should be prepared for events beyond current record, especially given the trends caused by anthropogenic climate change that increase the likelihood of extreme events.
– write researchers.

For their estimates, they used the latest climate models and data on the world’s population, as well as a method known as extreme value statistics to determine the likelihood of extreme climatic events occurring again.

High temperatures not only directly kill people, but also significantly complicate daily life and work, can be devastating to the development of agriculture and farming, and cause large-scale forest fires. There’s also good news: disaster preparedness reduces deaths. These measures may include the creation of urban cooling zones, changing or reducing working hours, and more.