Summer 2025: Northern Hemisphere under siege from climate extremes

The summer of 2025 is one of record. Although August has only just begun, the planet has already been shaken by a series of extreme weather phenomena that have put entire communities, governments and international institutions on alert. The Northern Hemisphere, in particular, is facing an increasingly bleak picture, amid the deepening climate crisis.

• "We are in the middle of climate change"

Climate experts warn that these are no longer warnings, but realities in progress. Sonia Seneviratne, a researcher at ETH Zurich and member of the IPCC group (the UN scientific body dedicated to climate change), emphasizes that "extreme temperatures and precipitation have become more intense and more frequent on a global scale," according to AFP. Fred Hattermann, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, points to a critical threshold that has already been crossed: 2024 was the first year in which the global average temperature was 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels. "Every tenth of a degree increases the likelihood of extreme events,” he warns.

• Middle East: 50 degrees in the shade

In May, the United Arab Emirates recorded temperatures above 50°C, and on August 1, a peak of 51.8°C was reached - close to the absolute record. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq are experiencing constant heat waves, and in Turkey, the city of Silopi recorded, for the first time, 50.5°C. The impact is devastating: power outages, overloaded air conditioning systems, depleted water reserves. The prolonged drought has fueled thousands of fires in southern Turkey, exacerbating an already deep ecological crisis.

• Asia: Record temperatures and catastrophic floods

In Japan, the city of Isesaki broke the national record with 41.8°C, and the cherry blossom season was completely disrupted, an eloquent symbol of climate imbalances. Hong Kong has faced 35.5 cm of rain in a single day - the highest amount recorded in August in the last 140 years. In northern Beijing, floods have killed at least 44 people, and nine others are missing. In Pakistan, the toll is even more tragic: 266 victims of the "unusual” monsoon of 2025, half of whom are children. The Punjab province has been hit by 73% more rainfall than the previous year.

• Scandinavia: an illusory climate refuge

Once considered an oasis of coolness, Scandinavia has itself become a victim of heat waves. In Finland, 22 consecutive days of temperatures above 30°C were recorded - an absolute record. In Rovaniemi, beyond the Arctic Circle, the temperature reached 30°C, exceeding the values in southern Europe.

• Canada: flames instead of snow

Canada is going through one of the worst forest fire seasons in its history. Thousands of hectares of forest are burning out of control, fueled by severe drought and abnormal temperatures. Other regions affected by the fires include Scotland, Greece, Arizona and parts of southern Europe. According to Copernicus, the European atmosphere monitoring service, smoke and greenhouse gas emissions this summer are among the highest ever recorded in the northern hemisphere.

• A planet on the brink of climate overstrain

Scientific data and reality on the ground converge towards a single conclusion: the summer of 2025 is not an isolated episode, but a piece of a climate puzzle that is closing ever tighter around humanity. Every tenth of a degree matters. Every day of inaction costs. Faced with these realities, researchers and climatologists are calling for drastic and rapid measures at a global level: reducing emissions, urban adaptation, investments in climate resilience and transnational cooperation. The future is no longer an abstraction - it is melting, igniting and spilling over before our eyes.