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Extreme heat has been ravaging North America, Europe, and Asia this summer. We’re collecting records, yet again, and the worst thing is that we know this is only the beginning … summer heat of today will look like a comfortable, cool breeze in a couple of decades. But, yes, let’s not even go there, because this summer has been bad enough (and it’s not even halfway over).
Already back in May, Reuters reported, “Meteorologists say a weather phenomenon known as a ‘heat dome’ has trapped hot air over the southern Gulf of Mexico and northern Central America, causing temperatures to soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas. Between May 12 and May 21, authorities said 22 people died from heat-related causes, adding to a total of 48 deaths since March 17. In comparison, during the same period in 2022 and 2023, heat waves claimed the lives of two and three people, respectively.”
Mexico has been suffering through one of the worst heatwaves in its history over the last two weeks, shattering dozens of all-time records with no signs of letting up.
Temperatures will soar above 45°C (113°F) as a relentless heat dome restrengthens and remains parked overhead… pic.twitter.com/bXSnDB4YB7
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) May 24, 2024
The last embrace.
Howler monkeys, who dropped dead from trees in unlivable heat, are buried in each other’s arms.
We’ve ignored decades of scientific warnings yet, amid global catastrophic consequences, we are still digging our own graves. pic.twitter.com/qVl7B5rR3U
— Tom (@DrTOMontgomery) May 25, 2024
More than 100 howler monkeys have dropped dead from trees in recent weeks in southern Mexico’s tropical forests amid a nationwide drought and heat wave, with rescuers racing to give water to the threatened monkeys. https://t.co/naVb1GkSlM pic.twitter.com/kCpeIQouK9
— ABC News (@ABC) May 23, 2024
Of course, extreme heat leads to other uncommon or unprecedented extreme weather events, as evidenced here:
A 34.7 °C at 2,300 meters altitude would be about 50 °C at sea level!
How long will low latitude mega cities remain habitable? https://t.co/Bv8kj5csbJ
— Leon Simons (is fine) (@LeonSimons8) May 26, 2024
🔴⚠️♨️🔥🇲🇽It is one of the worst and longest heatwaves hittin4 #Mexico.More than 100 #wildfires from #Yucatan to central areas, wide #drought are the results. And temperatures could rise again in few days. Here #GOES16 in a 12hrs animation of May24 #oladecalor #climateemergency pic.twitter.com/U3ejBTKFrX
— SatWorld (@or_bit_eye) May 25, 2024
⚠️WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE⚠️ A presidential campaign rally in Mexico was struck with devastatingly strong winds, causing the stage to collapse and taking the lives of 9 people. Details here: https://t.co/yEn9MmMFm0 pic.twitter.com/JrP91IEt3r
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 23, 2024
ICYMI: Cameras caught the moment a stage collapsed at a political rally in Mexico, killing at least nine people. Officials said sudden strong winds tore apart the large concert-style structure. pic.twitter.com/ehzkemRD5x
— DW News (@dwnews) May 25, 2024
Residents shoveled thick layers of ice after an unexpected hailstorm hit Puebla, Mexico in the midst of a heatwave pic.twitter.com/tebAcwyVUy
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 26, 2024
Mexico, freak hailstorms against n causing flooding. Killing wildlife and animals and wiping out crops. #foodsecuroty #climatechange pic.twitter.com/QefJkijnSC
— Green Cllr Scott (@cllrLisaScott) May 25, 2024
More footage of the flooding after heavy rainfall and a hailstorm yesterday in Puebla, Mexico 🇲🇽
▪︎ 24 May 2024 ▪︎#storm #hailstorm #floods #flooding #Puebla #Mexico pic.twitter.com/Z7JWyEDNeO
— DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) May 25, 2024
Big hat tip to DailyKos for that collection of tweets.
Meanwhile, over in Delhi, India, the capital city of famously hot India set a new heat record in May, before summer officially arrived, reaching 52.3 degrees Celsius (Fahrentheit)! “The highest temperature ever recorded in India has been recorded. According to the national Indian meteorological authority IMD, 52.3 degrees Celsius were recorded on Wednesday afternoon in Mungeshpur, a suburb in the Indian capital region of Delhi, which has been hit by a heat wave. The previous record for India was 51 degrees: it was measured in 2016 in the desert region of Phalodi in the state of Rajasthan,” TA International writes.
And down in Venezuela, the country lost its last glacier — in early May.
Then, this past Sunday, the world — the Earth as a whole — reached its hottest day on record. But that was short lived, as the record was broken again the next day, on Monday.
“According to preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global average temperature reached 17.15 degrees Celsius (62.87 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, toppling the prior day’s record of 17.09 C.” So, not only was it a new record, it was a pretty sharp rise over the previous record.
As I was going to get the graph for this, though, I noticed something else. Tuesday’s data is now in, and Tuesday was even hotter than Monday! So, for the third day in a row, it was the hottest day on record.
Also, while those rises in record temperature may not seem like a lot on the surface, remember that these represent global averages. The more extreme cases in various locations will be much more … extreme. Also, one metereologist explained it well with a good old-fashioned metaphor: “Let’s say your body temperature went up half a degree, that wouldn’t worry you if you’re 98.6 F, but if you’re already 103 F, that extra half a degree is really unsettling,” meteorologist Bob Henson said.
Temperatures in Fairbanks, Alaska, were forecast to hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) yesterday. Earlier in July, Las Vegas “saw five straight days with a high temperature of 115 degrees Fahrenheit or more, breaking the old record of four consecutive days set in July 2005, per The Guardian. It also hit a record high of 120 degrees on July 7.”
And if you think heat is something we can handle with air conditioning and water, note that heat kills more people in the US than every other disaster you can think up. “The National Weather Service reports that heat has been the leading cause of weather-related deaths in our country for at least 30 years. On average, heat has killed more people during the past three decades than floods, lightning, and hurricanes combined,” TCD writes.
June was the 13th month in a row to set a new heat record for the month. We can be sure July will be the 14th month in a row.
I don’t know what stories we’re going to see in coming days about record human deaths, dying animals, and extreme weather events from this record heat wave. But we can be sure they’re coming.
The planet, our home, is getting cooked. And we’re clearly not doing enough to stop it.
Global heating is here. What are we going to do about it?
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