In meteorology, temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius are referred to as "high-temperature weather," and if the highest temperature exceeds 35 degrees Celsius for several consecutive days, it is called a "heatwave." /VCG不仅是中国，西班牙、葡萄牙、法国、英国等地均出现超40℃高温热浪，世界多地气温突破历史极值，人体健康、电力供应、农业生产、水资源等受到威胁。
本周，美国加州的气温飙升，远高于38摄氏度，有关部门要求居民和企业减少用电以避免停电。Sweltering heat continues to bake vast swathes of the U.S., as another burst of hot weather blasts California. Temperatures in the most populous state soared to well above 100F/38C this week, with officials asking residents and businesses to cut power usage to avoid blackouts.几十年来最严重的干旱正在墨西哥北部发生，除了城市实行定量供水外，该国的农村工业也在苦苦挣扎。The worst drought in a generation is currently happening in northern Mexico, where in addition to cities now operating with water rationing, the countryside industries are struggling. Cattle ranching – often blamed as a major cause of global warming itself – is on the brink of collapse.
世界粮食计划署警告说，非洲东部大约有2200万人面临饥饿的危险。红十字会非洲国际联合会的区域主任表示:“谈到全球气候危机的影响，这是我们在非洲经历的最严重的干旱。在过去的40、50年里，我们从未遇到过这样的干旱。”The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years. The World Food Program warns that some 22 million people in this eastern part of Africa are at risk of starvation. The regional director of Africa International Federation of the Red Cross says: "When it comes to the impact of the global climate crisis, this is the worst drought we have had in Africa. For the last 40, 50 years we never had a drought like this."
The site was discovered in 1926, but the area was purposely flooded in 1963 under the Franco dictatorship. /Reuters据路透社报道，伴随着非洲气团自5月涌入伊比利亚半岛，西班牙全国迎来了有史以来最热的夏天，部分地区持续超过40°C。连日的暑热给西班牙农村地区造成了巨大的困扰，但同时带来了一个意想不到发现——多尔曼巨石阵重见天日。该巨石阵的历史可以追溯到公元前5000年，由德国考古学家雨果•奥伯迈尔于1926年发现的，但在1963年因当地修建水库而被淹没。巨石阵目前完全暴露在中部卡塞雷斯省瓦尔迪卡纳斯水库的一个角落，那里的水位已降至水库容量的28%。Wildfire, extreme temperatures and a record drought have combined to cause havoc for many in rural Spain this summer.But one of the few upsides of the country's worst drought in decades has been the emergence of a prehistoric stone circle in a dam whose waterline has dropped, sending Spanish archeologists into raptures.Officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal, but nicknamed the Spanish Stonehenge, the circle of dozens of megalithic stones is estimated to date back to 5,000 BC.It now sits fully exposed in one corner of the Valdecanas reservoir, in Spain's central Caceres province, where the water level has dropped to 28 percent of capacity.
无独有偶，英国贝廷斯水库最近也因为水位下降而成为了热门景点——一座上世纪50年代修建水库时被淹没的旧桥重见天日。水库周围的地区通常被认为是英国最潮湿的地区之一。但就在上周，英国环境署正式宣布，约克郡以及其他几个地区正在经历干旱。这让约克郡水务公司开始禁止市民使用软管给花园浇水或洗车以减少水资源消耗。Baitings Reservoir, set amongst the rolling hills of West Yorkshire some 350 kilometers north of London, has become a popular tourist spot in recent weeks.The drought has reduced the River Ryburn to little more than a trickle, leaving the reservoir's water levels at an all-time low. It has exposed an old bridge submerged when the reservoir was built in the 1950s.Last week, Britain's Environment Agency declared that Yorkshire, along with several other regions, was now officially suffering a drought. This gave Yorkshire Water the power to reduce consumption by banning the use of hosepipes to water gardens or wash cars.There are already such restrictions in parts of southern England, which have suffered the lowest levels of rainfall since records began. In London, a hosepipe ban is taking effect on August 24.
今年自7月20日以来，截至今天，中央气象台已经连发34天高温预警，创历史新纪录。其中，高温红色预警连发12天。这是60余年来最炎热的一个夏天，高温已经严重影响了中国的农业生产。Unbearable heat continues to rage in China, stretching from the western regions all the way to its coastal provinces. The country has been on its highest weather alert for more than 10 days as it struggles with the most intense and widespread heatwave it has seen in more than six decades. Professor Liao Yaoming from the National Climate Center warns that the summer heat has seriously affected the country's agricultural production.好消息是，中央气象台今日发布的天气预报显示，24日起，江汉、江淮高温将基本解除；26日起，四川盆地、江南的高温范围有所减小、强度减弱，部分地区解除。
联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会第六次评估报告指出，自1970年以来，全球变暖的速度超过了至少2000年以来的任何其他50年，气候系统的不稳定性正在增加。在这种情况下，饮用水已经成为世界上最宝贵的资源之一。法国《费加罗报》上周四的一篇报道称，由于气候变化破坏了水循环，而且全球用水量逐年增加，水资源分布不均和需求增加将使水资源短缺成为一个非常敏感的话题，并可能引发冲突。俄罗斯东方新观察网站近日也刊登文章称，多种因素导致饮用水正在成为战略资源。
Dogs play in shallow waters at a section of exposed River Rhine riverbed, due to low water levels caused by drought, in Duesseldorf, Germany, August 11, 2022. /CFP
As climate change destroys the water cycle, and as global water use is on the increase year by year, the uneven distribution of water resources and the increasing demand will make water shortage a very sensitive topic and may cause conflict, a report by the French daily, Le Figaro said last Thursday.
The report says many rivers and aquifers are shared by riparian countries, and there are high chances of water related conflict. Water scarcity exacerbates political instability. Therefore, the allocation of water resources is crucial to maintaining peace, the paper wrote. In addition to natural gas, drinking water is becoming a strategic resource due to multiple factors such as lingering high temperatures and droughts, according to an article published by Russia's internet journal, New Eastern Outlook, last Wednesday.The extreme weather has lowered water levels of lakes and rivers or even dried them up in many European countries, and water shortage has become a reality in some regions of North America and Central Asia. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world's population may be facing water shortages. When waters run dry, people can't get enough to drink, wash, or feed crops, and economic decline may occur, WWF said.