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Across the world's largest cities, WRI estimates the longest heatwave each year could last 16.3 days on average under a 1.5°C scenario, but 24.5 days at 3°C
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North Korea reports 'fierce' heat as peninsula bakes
Seoul's interior ministry said as of Tuesday 21 people had died from suspected heat-related causes this year in South Korea
A man uses his fan to provide shade from the sun in Seoul last week. The Korean peninsula is currently in the midst of a heatwave, with average daily temperatures hovering around 35 degrees Celsius and the government issuing its highest-possible heat warning as temperatures soar. AFP
North Korea is baking in a "fierce" heatwave, a weather agency official said on Tuesday, with the mercury forecast to reach as high as 37 degrees Celsius and South Korea also enduring extreme temperatures.
The North was recently hit by severe flooding in its northern regions near China, with state media reporting on high-level efforts to mitigate the impact of "disastrous abnormal weather".
On Tuesday, Kim Kwang Hyok, an official at North Korea's State Hydro-Meteorological Administration, told AFP the country had "witnessed the fierce heat in recent days" including in the capital Pyongyang.
"Severe heat of 33 to 37 (degrees Celsius) is foreseen in some areas. That's why we announced a heatwave warning until 14th of August," he said.
"The State Hydro-Meteorological Administration is focusing on forecasting the fierce heat and is striving to inform... certain areas (so) that they can take necessary measures," he added.
South of the border, Seoul's interior ministry said that as of Tuesday 21 people had died from suspected heat-related causes this year as the country records unusually high temperatures.
South Korea is experiencing a heat wave, with the weather agency reporting a high Monday of 38.7C in the city of Yeoju, in Gyeonggi province.
It also flagged the so-called "tropical night" phenomenon -- where overnight temperatures do not drop below 25C -- which has happened for 22 straight days, the third-longest such streak since records began.
South Korea's electricity demand also hit an all-time high on Monday as the country's population battled the ongoing heat wave with air conditioners and fans.
By contrast, the impoverished North has long endured power shortages, and experts say most residents have no access to air conditioning.
"Even in the capital city of Pyongyang, the wealthiest region in the country, only about 0.1 per cent of the city's total population would be able to turn on an air conditioner when they want to," Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, said.
He said that the North would never disclose heat casualties but that the number of deaths could be many times higher than in the South.
South Korean media have reported that the number of dead and missing in the North due to the recent flooding could be as high as 1,500.
However, leader Kim Jong Un last week dismissed the reports as a "grave provocation" and "an insult to the flood-stricken people who are all safe and well".
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