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Globally, July was already the hottest month on record and the
first days of August brought a heat wave to parts of northern
and central Chile, bringing springlike weather to the capital in
the dead of the Southern Hemisphere winter.
"In a way, this is a window into the future, we are seeing
conditions that are going to normalize," said Martin Jacques, a
climatologist and professor at Chile's University of Concepcion.
"What now seems very extreme could gradually become more and
more normal in a few years."
"Having temperatures of 37 degrees (99 degrees Fahrenheit) in
the middle of southern winter is extraordinary," said Raul
Cordero, a climatologist at the University of Santiago. "It is a
temperature anomaly of almost 15 degrees above typical values
and unfortunately it is not a local problem, it is a global
problem."
Jacques said that while some of the temperature increase is
expected during this time of the year due to atmospheric
circulation, these extreme temperatures have been exacerbated by
El Nino and an increasingly warming planet.
He added that while it's often hard to establish a connection
between extreme weather events and climate change, temperatures
in parts of Chile have been breaking records year after year.
"It's a pretty robust sign of warming," Jacques said. "The
connection between temperature and long-term climate change is
much more evident."
The winter season has been eventful in Chile, with the most
intense rainstorms in decades leaving thousands homeless,
isolated towns and blocked roads in the south-central area of
the country.
Many hope the rains would help the replenish the country's water
reservoirs after more than a decade-long drought, but Jacques
described the situation as "quite fragile" as long as snow in
the Andes isn't being replaced.
"Winter high-temperature events do affect the spring flow rate
that can be expected from melt," Jacques said.
According to the latest service reports, high temperatures in
the north and center of the country will last all week.
(Reporting by Jorge Vega, Natalia Ramos and Alexander Villegas)
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