Billions Of People Just Felt The Deadly Intensity Of Climate-Fueled Heat Waves

"Scorching heat across five continents set 1,400 records this week and showed how human-caused global warming has made catastrophic temperatures commonplace."

"Dozens of bodies were discovered in Delhi during a two-day stretch this week when even sundown brought no relief from sweltering heat and humidity. Tourists died or went missing as the mercury surged in Greece. Hundreds of pilgrims perished before they could reach Islam’s holiest site, struck down by temperatures as high as 125 degrees.

The scorching heat across five continents in recent days, scientists say, provided yet more proof that human-caused global warming has so raised the baseline of normal temperatures that once-unthinkable catastrophes have become commonplace.

The suffering came despite predictions that a year-long surge of global heat might soon begin to wane. Instead, in the past seven days alone, billions felt heat with climate change-fueled intensity that broke more than 1,000 temperature records around the globe. Hundreds fell in the United States, where tens of millions of people across the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard have been sweltering amid one of the worst early-season heat waves in memory."

Sarah Kaplan and Scott Dance report for the Washington Post June 22, 2024.

SEE ALSO:

"Well Beyond the U.S., Heat and Climate Extremes Are Hitting Billions" (New York Times)

"How US Industries Deal With Extreme Heat" (Reuters)

"How Does Heat Kill? It Confuses Your Brain. It Shuts Down Your Organs. It Overworks Your Heart." (AP)

"Intense Heat In Gaza Could Worsen Health Crisis For Palestinians, WHO Warns" (Reuters)

Source: Washington Post, 06/24/2024