PARIS: Devastating wildfires and blistering heatwaves during the world’s third-hottest August on record underscored the urgency of tackling climate change and preparing for its deadly consequences, the European global warming monitor said Tuesday.

Southwest Europe wilted through a third summer heatwave, fires tore through Spain and Portugal, while many parts of Asia experienced above-average temperatures during a scorching month that neared record highs.

The world’s oceans, which help regulate Earth’s climate by absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere, were also close to record high temperatures for the month. Hotter seas are linked to worsening weather extremes.

“With the world’s (oceans) also remaining unusually warm, these events underline not only the urgency of reducing emissions but also the critical need to adapt to more frequent and intense climate extremes,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Global temperatures have been stoked ever higher by humanity’s emissions of planet-heating gases, largely from fossil fuels burned on a massive scale since the industrial revolution.

Copernicus takes these measurements using billions of satellite and weather readings, both on land and at sea, and their data extends back to 1940.

The average temperature globally for August was 1.29 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, marginally cooler than the monthly record set in 2023 and tied with 2024.

Such incremental rises may appear small, but scientists warn that is already destabilising the climate and making storms, floods and other disasters fiercer and more frequent.

In its monthly bulletin, Copernicus said that western Europe experienced the continent’s most pronounced above-average temperatures, with southwest France and the Iberian Peninsula particularly affected.

Spain suffered a 16-day heatwave that caused more than 1,100 deaths, according to the Carlos III Health Institute. Wildfires in Spain and Portugal forced thousands to evacuate.

Last week, scientists said human-caused climate change made the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the blazes 40 times more likely.

Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average across Siberia, parts of Antarctica, China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan and the Middle East.

Record-breaking ocean temperatures were measured in the North Atlantic to the west of France and the United Kingdom in August. Across the Mediterranean, the picture was mixed and less extreme than 2024.

The UK, Japan and South Korea sweltered this year through the hottest summers since each country began keeping records, their respective weather agencies announced earlier this month.

• US denies visas to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
• Recognition of Palestine expected on UNGA agenda.
• MEP Per Clausen urges UN session shift to Geneva.

Calls are mounting to relocate the United Nations General Assembly session from New York to Geneva after the United States refused visas to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation, media reports said.

Important decisions regarding the recognition of Palestine are expected at the session. High-level debates at the General Assembly are scheduled from September 23 to 27, and the session will conclude on September 29, according to media reports.

The Trump administration has refused visas to about 80 Palestinian officials. In 1988, the US also barred PLO leader Yasser Arafat from travelling to New York. 

This is the first time in UN history that such a blanket ban has been attempted. The aim is to prevent participation in one of the most significant events in Palestinian history since the Oslo Accords.

Under a 1947 UN “headquarters agreement”, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.

A one-day General Assembly conference on the two-state solution will be held on September 22 in New York. Abbas was to attend the conference led by Saudi Arabia and France. The session may see Britain, France, Australia, Canada and other countries recognise Palestine as a state.

Danish Member of the European Parliament Per Clausen has proposed moving the UN session to Geneva, saying Europe should propose holding it there. He said Palestinians’ rights should be recognised, and President Trump sent a clear message.

Israel and the US are upset with several Western allies who have pledged to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN.

At least 147 of the 193 UN member states already recognise a Palestinian state. The Palestinians have observer status at the UN, the same as the Holy See (Vatican).

Moreover, international critics say Israel’s new plan, which includes demilitarising the whole strip as Israel takes security control of it, could deepen the humanitarian plight of the 2.2 million population, which is facing a critical risk of famine, opens a new tab.

Israeli PM Netanyahu had said Israel had no choice but to complete the job and defeat Hamas, given that the Palestinian group had refused to lay down its arms. Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established.

Israel had already taken control of 75% of Gaza since the war began with Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, Israeli tallies show. Israeli authorities claim 20 of the remaining 48 hostages in Gaza are alive.

Israel’s military assault has killed over 62,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says, and internally displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the territory in ruins.

— With additional input from Reuters

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has allocated $5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support Pakistan’s ongoing response to devastating floods, a UN spokesperson said Monday.

This new allocation adds to the $600,000 provided by OCHA’s Asia and the Pacific Regional Fund and the $250,000 approved by the Pakistan Country-Based Pooled Fund for local NGOs.

“The funds will be used for cash transfers, health, water and sanitation, shelter, and food, among other urgent needs,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters during the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, while emphasizing the need for additional funding to address the crisis.

“Our humanitarian teams are working closely with the government to deliver relief to survivors in flood-affected areas,” he added.

Dujarric also noted, citing UN reports, that many villages remain submerged, with water levels reaching up to 10 meters in some places, delaying humanitarian access and complicating efforts to assess the full impact of the floods.

Priority needs include sanitation and hygiene, health, shelter, food and water, he said.

“Our partners working in health have expressed concerns over a rise in waterborne diseases in many parts,” the spokesperson said.

“We are working to supporting the Government-led response and OCHA has deployed staff to the affected area in Punjab to support the coordination efforts.

“While these new funds will enable lifesaving aid, existing resources are nearly exhausted and urgent additional funding is critically needed”, Dujarric added.