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GENEVA / DEATH VALLEY RECORD TEMPERATURE
STORY: GENEVA / DEATH VALLEY RECORD TEMPERATURE
TRT: 1:25
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 18 AUGUST 2020 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior shot, Palais des Nations flag alley
2. Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Press Room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, spokesperson, WMO:
“The weather station at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, reported a temperature of 54.4 degrees Celsius, which is 130 degrees Fahrenheit, on Sunday 16 August.”
4. Med shot, journalist sitting at table, texting on mobile phone
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, spokesperson, WMO:
“If validated, it would be the highest temperature on Earth since 1931 and the third-hottest temperature ever recorded on the planet.”
6. Med shot, journalist sitting in front of laptop, pushing glasses onto the bridge of his nose
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, spokesperson, WMO:
“The National Weather Service in Las Vegas which covers the Death Valley area tweeted this morning - well, overnight - ‘We are in the midst of a long-duration extreme heat event. Another run at 130 degree Fahrenheit-plus temperatures in Death Valley remains possible.’”
8. Close up, profile, fingers typing on laptop
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Clare Nullis, spokesperson, WMO:
“July was the hottest July on record for the northern hemisphere and the Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record. The January to July period – the seven-month period - was the second-warmest such period on record.”
10. Wide shot, podium with two speakers seated below a large mural in a near-empty Press Room
11. Med shot, UN Geneva staff member sitting next to TV cameras
12. Close up, journalist with laptop screen in foreground and podium speaker
All indications suggest that the 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) reading in California’s Death Valley on Sunday is legitimate, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday (18 Aug).
“The weather station at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, reported a temperature of 54.4C, which is 130F, on Sunday 16 August,” said Clare Nullis, WMO spokesperson. “If validated, it would be the highest temperature on Earth since 1931 and the third-hottest temperature ever recorded on the planet.”
Nullis told journalists in Geneva that WMO had tasked a panel of international experts to verify the reading by examining the observation, the equipment used, how it was calibrated and how it compared to data gathered at surrounding stations.
According to WMO’s Weather and Climate Extremes archive, the hottest temperature ever recorded was in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California, reaching 56.7C (134.06F) on 10 July 1913. The highest temperature for the Eastern hemisphere was set in July 1931 in Kebili, Tunisia, reaching 55C (131F).
Preliminary findings indicate that the equipment at Furnace Creek meteorological station was in proper working condition at the time of Sunday’s observation, Nullis noted.
Although the full verification process will likely take many months, she said that the UN agency’s weather and climate extremes rapporteur, Randall Cerveny, had already said that all the indications so far are that this is a legitimate observation.
The scorching conditions have coincided with a heatwave on the U.S. west coast. The US National Weather Service has issued numerous heat warnings indicating that the intense and extreme heat will continue this week.
“The National Weather Service in Las Vegas which covers the Death Valley area tweeted ‘We are in the midst of a long-duration extreme heat event. Another run at 130F-plus temperatures in Death Valley remains possible,’” said Nullis.
The development follows repeated warnings from the UN weather agency about extreme high temperatures which are having an impact on sea ice melt and causing extensive wildfires in places such as the Arctic.
Western and Central Europe witnessed another heatwave last week, Nullis explained, with a number of new weather station records. On 17 August, Japan registered 41.1C (105.98F) at Hamamatsu, tying its national record. Siberia, meanwhile, has experienced a prolonged heatwave, with a recorded temperature of 38C (100.4F) on 20 June in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk.
WMO is now examining this reading, which if verified, would be the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic Circle.
“July was the hottest July on record for the northern hemisphere and the Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record,” Nullis said. “The January to July period – the seven-month period - was the second-warmest such period on record.”
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