Images
August 30, 2024 - Clear Skies over Europe
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Sunny skies—along with soaring temperatures—continued across much of Europe in late August 2024.
On August 28, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image showing a sun-filled summer scene stretching from Spain (west) to Albania (east). In the west, a bank of clouds can be seen over the United Kingdom, indicating stormy weather fringing otherwise bright skies.
Much of Europe and Northern Africa have sweltered under repetitive heat waves this summer, with record high temperatures toppled in several countries. For example, on August 11, Severe Weather Europe, focusing on France, reported the following record highs: Soorts-Hossegor reached 41.5°C (106.7°F), Biscarrosee recorded 41.1°C ( 106°F), and Ploudalmezeau, in north-western France, hit 32.4°C (90.3°F). Previous records, all set in the disastrous heatwave of August 2003, when 15,000 people were estimated to have died, were 40.5°C (104.9°F), 40.7°C (105.3°F), and 32.2°C (90°F), respectively.
Severe Weather Europe also reported that parts central highlands in Spain recorded 43°C (109.4°F) on August 9 while, across the Mediterranean Sea, Errcachidia, Morocco, a town situated at 1100 meters above sea level, baked under 43.7°C (110.6°F). That’s just shy of the record high, which was 43.9°C (111°F) set on July 17, 2021.
On August 1, Relief Web published a statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director for Europe, Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, regarding extreme heat. It states, “The WHO European Region is the fastest-warming of the 6 WHO regions, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate. Across the Region, in its 53 Member States, people are paying the ultimate price. The 3 warmest years on record for the Region have all occurred since 2020, and the 10 warmest years have been since 2007.” He noted that heat stress is the leading cause of climate-related death in the region, on averaging accounting for 176,040 deaths each year between 2000 and 2019.
In July, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a Call to Action on extreme heat in response to the deadly impacts of rising temperatures all over the world. The call identifies four critical areas of action: caring for the vulnerable, protecting workers, boosting the resilience of economies and societies, and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 8/28/2024
Resolutions:
1km (1.8 MB), 500m (5.3 MB), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Sunny skies—along with soaring temperatures—continued across much of Europe in late August 2024.
On August 28, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image showing a sun-filled summer scene stretching from Spain (west) to Albania (east). In the west, a bank of clouds can be seen over the United Kingdom, indicating stormy weather fringing otherwise bright skies.
Much of Europe and Northern Africa have sweltered under repetitive heat waves this summer, with record high temperatures toppled in several countries. For example, on August 11, Severe Weather Europe, focusing on France, reported the following record highs: Soorts-Hossegor reached 41.5°C (106.7°F), Biscarrosee recorded 41.1°C ( 106°F), and Ploudalmezeau, in north-western France, hit 32.4°C (90.3°F). Previous records, all set in the disastrous heatwave of August 2003, when 15,000 people were estimated to have died, were 40.5°C (104.9°F), 40.7°C (105.3°F), and 32.2°C (90°F), respectively.
Severe Weather Europe also reported that parts central highlands in Spain recorded 43°C (109.4°F) on August 9 while, across the Mediterranean Sea, Errcachidia, Morocco, a town situated at 1100 meters above sea level, baked under 43.7°C (110.6°F). That’s just shy of the record high, which was 43.9°C (111°F) set on July 17, 2021.
On August 1, Relief Web published a statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director for Europe, Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, regarding extreme heat. It states, “The WHO European Region is the fastest-warming of the 6 WHO regions, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate. Across the Region, in its 53 Member States, people are paying the ultimate price. The 3 warmest years on record for the Region have all occurred since 2020, and the 10 warmest years have been since 2007.” He noted that heat stress is the leading cause of climate-related death in the region, on averaging accounting for 176,040 deaths each year between 2000 and 2019.
In July, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a Call to Action on extreme heat in response to the deadly impacts of rising temperatures all over the world. The call identifies four critical areas of action: caring for the vulnerable, protecting workers, boosting the resilience of economies and societies, and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 8/28/2024
Resolutions:
1km (1.8 MB), 500m (5.3 MB), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
