Josie Taylor | January 17, 2022

Ground breaking temperatures are hitting Argentina as they experience an unprecedented heat wave. Ground temperatures got above 129 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius). This heat caused widespread blackouts. 

The air temperatures, although cooler, are still suffocating in many areas. Temperatures rose to 106.7 degrees Fahrenheit (41.5 degrees Celsius) in Buenos Aires, the second-highest reading in the city in more than 100 years of records. Other parts of the country saw temperatures as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat was so severe in Argentina on Tuesday that it was briefly the hottest place in the world, surpassing parts of Australia. 

Infrastructure is not being able to protect people in Argentina as temperatures surge. Around 700,000 people were without power for hours on Tuesday afternoon. The city’s electric providers blamed increased demand from cooling during the heatwave. The agency that provides drinking water also asked residents to take conservation measures, saying that its purification system was affected during the outage.

Climate change is a key ingredient in these severe heat waves. The planet has warmed roughly 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) since the world began burning fossil fuels. That seeming small rise has majorly shifted the odds toward more extreme heat.