Dozens of millions of people are exposed to a severe heatwave continuing Sunday in the Northern Hemisphere with violent fires in California, while Asia is experiencing exceptionally bad weather conditions, in a new manifestation of global warming.

In Europe, where global warming is increasing at twice the global rate according to experts, many countries are suffering at the beginning of summer.

Lilo da Costa Rosa, a 48-year-old Brazilian vendor who came from Lyon to visit Rome where the temperature reached 34 degrees Celsius at 1:30 PM local time (11:30 GMT), said, "I am really suffering because of the heat. I bought a small fan, an umbrella, and bottles of water."

Italy issued a red alert notice putting 16 cities on alert across the country with expected temperatures of 36-37 degrees Celsius, but residents feel that the heat is touching 40 degrees Celsius.

Hajj pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square were not bothered by the high temperatures; 15,000 people gathered there according to the Vatican gendarmerie to participate in the Angelus prayer led by Pope Francis.

Among them was Father François Mbemba (29 years old) from the Diocese of Kinshasa near Kinshasa. He said, "The heat continues even at night, we cannot sleep. And we who wear black clothes, we sweat as if we are in hell."

He said, "It is difficult for us to adapt, the weather is hotter than it is in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo."

"Everything is burning"

Spain is witnessing the beginning of a new heatwave, after a suffocating week felt by La Palma Island in the Canary Islands, where a fire destroyed five thousand hectares of land at the end of this weekend, leading to the evacuation of four thousand people.

Patricia Sanchez (37 years old), a member of the Spanish Red Crescent, said, "I feel helpless as I watch everything burn, and the evacuation of two entire villages."

A volcanic eruption that destroyed the island in 2021 forced residents to flee. The paramedic said, "People who lost everything because of the volcano (Tagoagat) and who had to rebuild their lives in the north of the island (...) may lose everything again."

In Romania, temperatures are expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius on Monday across most of the country.

In Greece, where temperatures are expected to drop slightly, the authorities finally decided to continue closing the Acropolis in Athens on Sunday but only from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM local time, i.e., from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM GMT and not from 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM as had been announced Saturday evening.

Greek authorities urged residents to exercise extreme caution and warned of increased risk of fires.

Fires

In the United States, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that "an extremely severe heatwave is expected to hit the western part of the country by the end of this week as well as some areas in the south."

The temperature in Death Valley reached 51 degrees Celsius, while it is expected to reach 54 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

In southern California, firefighters have been busy since Friday fighting several raging fires that swept over more than 1,214 hectares and led to the evacuation of large numbers of residents.

On the other hand, other areas in the United States are exposed to the risk of bad weather.

The National Weather Service warned that "severe to strong thunderstorms, heavy rains, and possible floods in many locations, especially in saturated New England," due to recent rainfall.

In Canada, fires have consumed more than ten million hectares this year, an unprecedented area in the country's history. This affected area is expected to increase with 906 fires ignited on Saturday in the country, of which 570 are uncontrolled, according to national figures issued by the Canadian Wildfire Monitoring Center.

Hiking is exhausting

Japan issued warnings to tens of millions of its residents Sunday against sunstroke in 20 of the country's 47 prefectures, after nearly record temperatures were recorded in large parts of the country.

In Tokyo where temperatures reached 36 degrees Celsius, French tourist Coline Grison (24 years old) confirmed that "just strolling is exhausting." She told AFP, "We sweat without doing anything."

Anthony Fernandez (29 years old) from Texas in the United States said, "Due to the heat, I think we must be aware and stay indoors as much as possible."

He added, "I have the impression that every time we visit a place, a heatwave or a natural disaster happens."

Meanwhile, Japan is also experiencing heavy rains in some areas that have led to the death of at least eight people, including a man whose body was found Saturday in a water-filled car in the north of the country.

In South Korea, rescue workers are struggling to reach people trapped in a tunnel flooded after heavy rains in recent days that left at least 37 dead and ten missing following landslides.

China’s meteorological services issued several warning messages Sunday, predicting temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius in the partially desert Xinjiang region, and 39 degrees Celsius in the southern Guangxi region.

The World Meteorological Organization confirmed that heat is one of the most dangerous weather-related events. Last summer, high temperatures in Europe alone caused the death of more than 60,000 people, according to a recent study.