Turkish temperature record: 49.5 degrees Celsius

In Türkiye, a nationwide heat wave is seeing new heights. In the long term, according to climate models, it will only get worse there and possibly make the summer tourist season somewhat impossible in the summer.

Ankara. In Turkey, a popular holiday destination in Austria, the weather is currently a little warmer than necessary: ​​according to the Met Office, yesterday, Tuesday, the highest temperature was measured since the start of records. The temperature in Eskişehir, western Turkey (see map), reached 49.5 degrees Celsius. Turkey’s environment minister, Mehmet Ozheski, tweeted that the previous record from July 2021 (49.1 degrees) had fallen. There have been regular measurements of the weather in Türkiye for about 100 years.

For comparison: the Austrian record since August 2013 was a confirmed 40.5 degrees, measured in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near Hainburg (Lower Austria). The Turkish value comes from extremes over 50 degrees, as it was already in Australia (50.7 degrees), Algeria (51.3 degrees), Iran (54 degrees) and the USA (54.4 degrees), and is very close.

On Wednesday, the Turkish Meteorological Authority warned of a continuation of the nationwide heat wave. Temperatures of up to 11 degrees above normal values ​​are expected for this time of year. The main reason is climate change, said meteorologist Paris Onol of Istanbul Technical University. Although El Niño weather events in the Pacific Ocean are also causing global warming, overall heat waves are becoming more frequent and lasting longer. “In future simulations, Turkey will experience this heat much more in 30 to 40 years,” Onol said. This may have an impact on tourism in the Mediterranean region. From 2040, the main season is generally expected to shift from summer to September and October or spring.

Ozaski writes that climate change must stop. Turkey aims to be carbon neutral by 2053, but it derives 34.6 percent of its domestic electricity needs from coal and 22.2 percent from natural gas. Hydropower accounts for only about 11 percent, wind and sun about 11 and five percent each, and the remainder from imports. (oppa/red.)