Satellite view with heat map showing temperatures rising to 45C (113F) in Argentina on 11 January 2022. At the start of 2022, Argentina faced a historic heatwave with temperatures soaring above 40°C. On the day this image was acquired, Buenos Aires recorded a temperature of 41.1°C, the second highest in the history of the Argentine capital. Photo: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3A imagery
Satellite view with heat map showing temperatures rising to 45C (113F) in Argentina on 11 January 2022. Photo: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3A imagery

By Harry Cockburn
12 January 2022

(The Independent) – A historic heatwave with temperatures soaring up to 45°C (113°F) has hit Argentina, causing power grids to fail and leaving at least 700,000 people without electricity in Buenos Aires.

Hot dry weather, driven by the Pacific Ocean’s La Niña weather pattern, has made the South American nation the hottest place in the world, with current temperatures rising above those in Australia, bringing Argentina’s hottest day since 1957.

The role of the climate crisis in exacerbating heatwaves is well documented – though no single weather event can be attributed to global warming patterns. Nonetheless, the record highs come amid heightened concerns in Argentina over rising temperature trends, and lack of rainfall which has seen water levels in the major Parana river drop to an almost 80-year low.

Electricity companies in Argentina blamed a huge spike in demand for energy, which caused technical failures resulting in the power cuts.

The outage came as temperatures in the capital rose higher than 41C, while higher temperatures were recorded elsewhere. […]

The power cuts have left Buenos Aires’ residents with no air conditioning to cool down.

“I came home and we were without electricity and the house was a furnace,”Jose Casabal, 42, told Reuters. “So I took [the children] off to their grandmother’s house to swim in the pool.”

Other residents described the heat as “unbearable”.

Marta Lorusso, 59, an architect, said the changing climate was a major concern: “I was always born here in a temperate climate and I saw how the temperature changed over the years, and it is not what we’re used to,” he said. […]

Farmers have warned that Argentina’s crops have likely experienced the greatest level of heat stress in recent weeks than they have in several years. Due to the long dry spell, soil moisture levels have been depleted and crop stress has increased, according to the US publication AgWeb Farm Journal. [more]

Power grid fails as Argentina hit by record-breaking heatwave