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.

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.

• PM pins unrest on “selfish centres,” vows relief for victims’ families.
• Free treatment to be given to the injured, Nepalese officials confirm.
• Inquiry panel to report within 15 days on causes, future safeguards.

Nepal has lifted a social media ban following protests that resulted in the deaths of 19 people, a government minister said on Tuesday.

The government had rolled back the social media ban imposed last week, Cabinet spokesperson and Communications and Information Technology Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said.

The decision came after 19 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in the “Gen Z” protests on Monday against widespread corruption. The protests were triggered by the ban.

“We have withdrawn the shutdown of social media. They are working now,” Gurung told Reuters.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said he was saddened by the incidents of violence due to the “infiltration from different selfish centres”.

The government would pay relief for the families of the dead and provide free treatment for the injured persons, he added.

“An investigation panel will be set up to find out the causes, assess losses and suggest measures within 15 days to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future,” Oli said in a late-night statement on Monday.

Organisers of the protests, which spread to other cities in the Himalayan country, have called them “demonstrations by Gen Z.” They say the protests reflect young people’s widespread frustration with the government’s perceived lack of action to tackle corruption and boost economic opportunities.

The government last week decided to block access to several social media platforms, including Facebook, a decision that fuelled anger among the young.

Officials say the shutdown was for those social media platforms which had failed to register with the government, amid a crackdown on fake IDs, misinformation and hate speech.