South American countries gripped by record-breaking heat — in the middle of winter

An unprecedented wintertime heatwave is sweeping crossed a ample chunk of South America, with temperatures forecast to transcend 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) successful southwestern Brazil successful the coming days.

It comes arsenic portion of a caller inclination of extreme heat stretching crossed the globe, with the period of July poised to beryllium recognized arsenic the world's hottest successful history.

Unlike the bonzer temperatures precocious recorded during the bluish hemisphere's summertime season, however, countries including Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Brazil are expected to beryllium experiencing temperatures associated with the mediate of winter.

Scientists accidental the wintertime vigor is being fueled by the clime exigency and the El Niño phenomenon. El Niño is simply a people occuring clime signifier that contributes to higher temperatures crossed the globe.

Argentina's superior metropolis of Buenos Aires connected Tuesday registered temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius, successful what the country's upwind work said reflected the hottest commencement to aboriginal August successful 117 years of data.

Temperatures are typically astir 15 degrees Celsius successful Buenos Aires astatine this clip of year, and person not exceeded 30 degrees Celsius successful wintertime since 2014.

"Climate alteration is not a distant scenario," Argentina's nationalist upwind work said successful a Facebook station earlier this week. "[It] is present and it is urgent to act."

The confederate portion of the continent has suffered the worst of the wintertime vigor successful caller days, with temperatures expected to stay astatine abnormally precocious levels successful aboriginal August.

Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera says South America's scorching vigor represents 1 of the astir "extreme events the satellite has ever seen" and 1 that is "rewriting each [climatic] books."

"Numbers talk for themselves. And it volition get worse," Herrera said Thursday via the X platform, formerly known arsenic Twitter.

In Paraguay, the country's upwind work said temperatures would apt scope a maximum of 38 degrees Celsius connected Friday, with the blistery upwind expected to instrumentality astir done the weekend.

Temperatures connected Thursday hit 39.7 degrees Celsius astatine Paraguay's Vallemi airport, surpassing an all-time precocious recorded successful July.

In Chile, the upland municipality of Vicuna connected Tuesday registered a nationalist grounds arsenic temperatures reached 38.7 degrees Celsius.

Chile's nationalist upwind bureau said respective upwind stations nationwide recorded temperatures implicit 35 degrees Celsius astatine the commencement of the month.

Meanwhile, successful Brazil, temperatures soared to implicit 38 degrees Celsius past week.

A survey published past period recovered that the heatwaves baking immense swathes of North America, Europe and Asia successful July would person been "virtually impossible" without the human-induced clime crisis. Scientists accidental the utmost upwind sweeping crossed the globe reaffirms the urgency of cutting greenhouse state emissions arsenic rapidly and profoundly arsenic possible.