Five countries in Northern Hemisphere experiencing diverse weather conditions

Transcript

00:00 In news overseas, the United States, Europe and India, Afghanistan plus the Philippines

00:04 are all located in the planet`s northern hemisphere. Yet the U.S. and Europe as opposed to the

00:09 last three countries have been a tale of opposites for the last few weeks on extreme climate.

00:15 These first ones baking in extreme and prolonged scorching heat, while the other three wallowing

00:20 and drenching in floods and wetness.

00:22 SVOA`s Arash Al-Fasadi reports. The sun scorches the streets of Phoenix, Arizona

00:31 in the southwestern United States. For nearly all of July, temperatures have been at or

00:37 above 43 degrees Celsius. Here, in a tent city known as The Zone, are the people most

00:43 likely to die in the extreme desert heat, the homeless. Extreme heat forced the city

00:48 of Phoenix to deploy creative measures to keep people cool.

00:53 The city`s been sending one of the Valley Metro extended buses out here. It sits out

01:00 here for a couple of hours so we can sit in them and stay cool, not sitting in the sun.

01:07 That`s different. I`ve never experienced that before. It`s a nice way to stay cool.

01:11 Experts say urban communities suffer the harshest effects of heat, a product of city planning.

01:17 These extreme heat waves are disproportionately dangerous for communities of color and lower

01:21 income communities, simply because these areas tend to have many fewer trees and much more

01:27 infrastructure like parking lots and roads in them that actually absorb more of the sun`s

01:31 energy and then raise the air temperature in these neighborhoods.

01:36 That persistent high heat threatens even the healthiest members of the population if they

01:40 ignore their body`s warning signs.

01:43 If you`re out in the heat, you should be sweating. If all of a sudden you`re feeling hot and

01:47 you`re not sweating, it means your system is starting to shut down, you don`t have enough

01:51 fluids and you run an extremely high risk of having what we call a heat stroke, which

01:55 can be a life-threatening emergency.

01:57 Phoenix is far from alone in suffering sweltering heat this year. The National Weather Service

02:03 is reporting a full 60 percent of people living in the United States were under heat advisories

02:08 or flood warnings as of late last week. Meanwhile, India`s weather agency issued alerts for heavy

02:14 to very heavy rainfall in multiple regions amid a monsoon season that`s already dropped

02:20 two percent more rainfall this year than normal.

02:23 More than 100 people have died in the rains with around 1,600 hectares of land sunk in

02:29 flood plains. Scientists say monsoons, accompanying landslides and flash floods are becoming more

02:35 erratic because of climate change.

02:38 It`s a different picture from what`s happening in the capital of Afghanistan. The global

02:42 heat wave and severe drought have forced residents of Kabul to pay high prices and travel long

02:48 distances for water. One resident told the Associated Press he spends half of his salary

02:53 on rent and the rest on water.

02:56 Climate scientists say this July by far has been the hottest month on record. That means

03:02 all of us have lived through the hottest weeks in recorded history and likely the hottest

03:07 in 120,000 years. Arash Arabesati, VOA News.

03:12 (upbeat music)