Argentina is living during this beginning of 2023 the most intense summer of which there is a record. record temperatures and lack of rain that damage agriculture keep the country under weather alert, according to official reports.
(Read here: Hundreds of cotton plants are lost in Texas due to strong heat waves)
According to the National Meteorological Service (SMN), which collects data since 1961, this is the warmest summer since then and last month was also the second driest February, with 41.9 percent less rain than average. In some areas, in fact, temperatures reach up to 38 degrees Celsius.
(See also: Global warming, wars, closed societies: the challenges of our time)
“It is difficult for now to attribute everything to climate change,” Cindy Fernández, an SMN specialist, told AFP. However, studies indicate that “climate change makes the occurrence of prolonged heat waves with a large territorial extension 60 times more likely” such as those that the country is going through. Argentina.
Even since last November, even in spring, the first of nine heat waves was registered when the usual number is four or five in summer and they will continue in autumn with temperatures up to 55 percent above average, reported the SMN.
Last week, the entry of cold southern air brought relief to the south of the country, “but in the center and north the temperatures will continue to be very high. In Buenos Aires we will possibly have another heat wave next week,” he said.
Estela Lago, 49, a vendor at a Buenos Aires kiosk, is fed up with this endless summer. “I can’t take it anymore. We’ve had extreme heat since November, it’s March and it’s not over,” she complained.
Last week the alerts covered a third of the country.
“It is not normal to have heat waves in March, the latter was very long, in the city of Buenos Aires it lasted for seven days,” said Fernández, who indicated that the usual duration is three days.
more drought
The combination of high temperatures and drought caused forest fires and affected the agricultural yields of this country, which is one of the main food exporters.
“Argentina is suffering from an unprecedented climatic scenario in modern agriculture,” warned the Rosario Stock Exchange in its latest report. “There is no rain in sight that would allow us to put a floor on the harvest, the situation is very serious and it could get worse,” he added.
Soybean production, the main export product, will fall to its lowest volume in 14 years, with losses also in wheat and corn. The entity estimated losses of about 10 billion dollars this year.
“This drought was caused by the La Niña phenomenon and it is expected that in autumn it will begin to weaken until it disappears, but the atmosphere is slow to respond,” explained Fernández.
The stories of the citizens
The phenomenon coincided last week with the start of the school year.
“The kids break down, they can’t concentrate, there are 39 students in a classroom with no air circulation,” described Patricia Castro, mother of a 7-year-old girl who is a student at a public school in the Boedo neighborhood, in Buenos Aires, without air conditioning. .
“The patio where physical education is done burns, without shade, it is inhumane,” said this employee who sends her daughter to school anyway “because there is no one to take care of her at home.”
Daniel Botaro, father of 8-year-old twins, decided not to send them “until the heat ‘relaxed’.”
Although the authorities did not suspend classes, complaints from parents multiply.
“At school with these temperatures and without air conditioning, with the danger that it carries… there is little respect for the boys,” Ricardo Merkin considered.
In Buenos Aires, an operation was arranged for the distribution of bottled water in schools. The Ministry of Health maintains an alert to prevent heat stroke.
The increase in energy demand due to high temperatures has also caused power outages and user protests.
“The heat affects poor people more, especially children,” said Ernesto Texo, a 70-year-old lawyer, recalling that in Argentina poverty reaches 37% of the population.
For Valeria Sparrow, a 50-year-old employee, “the heat is tiring, but inflation is worse,” which in 2022 was almost 100 percent per year.
Power outages worsen
The central and northern zone of Argentina continues under a heat wave, which extends for the second consecutive week, where temperatures exceed 38 degrees Celsius, with thermal sensations greater than 40 degrees, and power cuts of more than 100,000 users.
The City of Buenos Aires (center), which broke historical records from 1906 on Thursday, March 2 and Saturday, March 11 with temperatures of 38 and 38.6 degrees respectivelyToday it registered a maximum of 36 and a thermal of 39.2, according to the SMN.
Added to this problem are power outages, only in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) consumption collapsed the electrical system with a total of 101,627 affected users, according to data from the official body of the Electricity Regulatory Entity (Enre ).
The provinces of Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero They maintain the highest temperature in the central zone of the country with 37 degrees Celsius, closely followed by Entre Ríos with 36 and Córdoba with 35 degrees.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With Afp and Efe
#Argentina #experiencing #intense #heat #wave #history