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Extreme heat is already ruining summer travel — and it’s only going to get worse

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6 months ago

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Extreme heat is already ruining summer travel — and it’s only going to get worse

Summer travel is already under attack — and it’s technically still only spring.

Record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events around the globe in recent days portend the promise of another blistering summer, even as the post-pandemic surge in travel continues to climb.

Greek authorities closed the Acropolis in Athens on Wednesday and Thursday during a sweltering mid-day heat wave. Temperatures soared above 104 degrees Fahrenheit across much of central and southern Greece this week, resulting in all archeological sites in the Greek capital going dormant from midday to 5 p.m. local time, according to The Associated Press.

The Acropolis, Greece’s most popular tourist site, also closed last summer because of heat. But meteorologists said this week that this is the earliest heat wave recorded in Greek history, and the soaring temperatures have officials on high alert for potential wildfires.

Passengers stuck onboard a Qatar Airways flight in Athens on Monday resorted to stripping as they sat in 95-degree heat with no air conditioning.

In Cyprus — Europe’s sunniest destination — a wave of heat-related wildfires has broken out near Paphos. The island draws scores of tourists each summer, eager to explore Cyprus’ Roman ruins and beautiful beaches.

Further North, a holiday village in Turkey’s Antalya Province was battered by flames as temperatures surpassed 102 degrees Fahrenheit, Euronews reported.

Meanwhile, torrential rains in parts of Spain wiped out crops in Murcia and grounded some flights on the popular tourist island of Mallorca, the outlet reported.

And the crisis is only likely to worsen as the summer drags on. Todd Crawford, vice president of meteorology at Atmospheric G2, told The New York Times last month that the firm expects 2024 temperatures across Europe to be on par with heat levels on the continent in 2022 — the hottest summer ever recorded on the continent.

Crawford said July and August, especially, will be blistering throughout the world’s fastest-warming continent. But the perils of climate change haven’t stopped people from flocking to places like Italy, Croatia, and Greece — all countries that were afflicted by scorching heat last summer.

Sweltering summers aren’t a problem unique to Europe. The US is set to be smacked with life-threatening temperatures in the coming days, too.

Starting in the Southwest, potentially record-breaking heat is set to reach the East Coast by the end of the week. New York City is forecast to reach 90 degrees by Friday — just in time for the Big Apple’s busiest tourist season.

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