POSSIBLE, according to climatologists and others tracking shattered temperature records and relentless heatwaves worldwide.
While the Philippines entered its rainy season officially on June 2 this year, projected to end in November, scientists say it is still possible to experience heat waves, especially during monsoon breaks or periods of reduced rainfall.
The rainy season, characterized by the southwest monsoon (Habagat) which brings rain to Luzon, and the Intertropical Convergence Zone which induces rains in Mindanao, can still have breaks in the monsoon, leading to temporary dry and hot conditions.
Earlier this year, Jakarta and Manila experienced extended and unusual heat which started in December 2024 and lasted until February 2025, with scientists saying climate change worsened the extremes on 70 days of the entire 90-day period.
Millions across Southeast Asia were cautiously optimistic that 2025 and the arrival of the cooling weather phenomenon La Niña, as forecast by the World Meteorological Organization, would bring some relief.
But nature showed it can disprove even the most precise climate models, bringing an unusually weak La Niña, meaning the cooling impact was short-lived, and Southeast Asia is again battling extreme heat.
Elsewhere in the world, Southern Europeans have started bracing for their first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer, as climate change pushes thermometers on earth’s fastest-warming continent increasingly into the red.
Scientists have long warned that humanity’s burning of fossil fuels is heating up the world with disastrous results for the environment. Europe’s ever-hotter and increasingly common blistering summer heatwaves are a direct result of that warming, the scientists argue.
In Italy, for instance, Milan in the north to Palermo in the south were put on red alert for high temperature, with peaks recorded at 39 degrees Celsius.
In eastern North America, particularly in New Jersey, Washington DC as well as Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia in Canada, some 160 million people were impacted, with dozens of people being hospitalized in heat-related illnesses.
In Southeast Asia, where about 700 million people live, representing approximately 8.5 percent of the world’s population, scientists say the cooling impact has been short-lived, and Southeast Asia is again up in arms against extreme heat.
But the country cannot be helpless, despite the emerging heatwave, where leaders should spearhead focus on a multi-pronged approach, including public awareness campaigns, infrastructure adjustments, and long-term climate action.
This should involve educating the public about heat-related risks, preparing infrastructure for extreme heat, and implementing sustainable solutions to mitigate climate change.
