Dawn
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08:40 Aug 08, 2025
Extreme heat is breaking records around the world, with wildfires and poor air quality compounding the crisis and some areas including southern Pakistan exceeding 45 degrees Celsius, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) released on Thursday. Extreme temperatures caused approximately 489,000 heat-related deaths annually between 2000 and 2019, with 36 per cent occurring in Europe and 45pc in Asia, the report said. The health impacts of heat are especially severe in cities due to the so-called ‘urban heat island effect’ — the over-heating of dense city areas compared with their rural surroundings — which is magnifying problems as urbanisation continues, it was pointed out. Amid rising 21st-century temperatures, the WMO underscored that July 2025 was the third-warmest July ever recorded, behind those in 2023 and 2024. In this record-breaking July, heatwaves especially impacted Sweden and Finland, which experienced unusually long spells of temperatures above 30°C. Southeast Europe...