For decades, cities have been designed around "gray infrastructure." Roads move people. Bridges connect communities. Water systems protect public health. These systems are governed by engineering standards because society recognizes that safety cannot depend on good intentions alone.

Urban nature deserves the same recognition.

In June, a heat wave gripped Europe, breaking temperature records across the continent. In France, officials reported over 2,000 excess deaths. In the U.K., hospitals declared critical incidents and machinery and IT systems failed. In the U.S., a heat dome over the Midwest and East Coast disrupted Fourth of July celebrations, with at least 25 heat-related deaths over Independence Day weekend.

Cities are being tested by a warming climate. Yet one of our most effective forms of climate infrastructure is being lost — not because it does not work but because we still do not treat it as infrastructure.

My view is simple: Urban nature ‪—‬ including street trees, parks, wetlands and other urban green spaces ‪—‬ should be categorized and managed as essential infrastructure, with minimum standards for its protection, quality and long-term maintenance. Just as we regulate roads, bridges and drinking water, we need standards that ensure all urban residents benefit from healthy and thriving urban nature. Without such standards, cities will become hotter, less resilient and increasingly unequal as climate change accelerates.

Scientific research shows that urban trees and green spaces cool cities during heat waves, reduce flooding by absorbing stormwater, improve air quality, store carbon, support biodiversity, and improve both physical and mental health. During extreme heat, neighborhoods with mature tree canopies can be several degrees cooler than nearby streets dominated by concrete and asphalt. Those few degrees can mean the difference between manageable discomfort and dangerous heat exposure, particularly for older adults, children and people with existing health conditions.

But while the science is strong, our governance is not.

Cities enthusiastically announce ambitious tree-planting campaigns, biodiversity strategies and new greening targets. These initiatives are valuable, but they often focus on what is easy to count rather than what truly matters. Planting a tree is not the same as growing a healthy urban forest. Creating a park does not guarantee biodiversity. A green roof delivers little value if it fails during drought.

The real measure of success is whether urban nature continues providing benefits decades after trees are planted and established.

This is where cities are still falling short.

Unlike buildings or transport systems, urban nature rarely operates under consistent minimum standards. Many cities have no requirements for minimum tree canopy cover, adequate rooting space, soil quality, biodiversity targets, long-term maintenance or even whether newly planted trees survive. As a result, access to nature depends heavily on where people live. Wealthier neighborhoods often enjoy mature tree canopy and high-quality parks, while disadvantaged communities experience hotter streets, fewer green spaces and greater exposure to climate risks.

That is not simply an environmental issue. It is a public health issue, a climate adaptation issue, and an issue of social equity.

The solution is not simply to plant more trees. It is to establish urban nature standards that recognize nature as essential infrastructure.

These standards would not prescribe the same solution for every city. Instead, they would establish minimum expectations based on scientific evidence. They could include targets for accessible green space, minimum tree canopy cover, sufficient soil volume for healthy tree growth, biodiversity outcomes, long-term maintenance funding and routine monitoring to ensure that urban nature continues delivering benefits to communities.

Importantly, these standards should focus on outcomes rather than simple planting targets. Counting how many trees are planted tells us little about whether cities are becoming more resilient. Measuring survival, canopy development, ecosystem health and equitable access provides a much better picture of whether investments in urban nature are actually returning dividends.

Some critics argue that cities cannot afford stronger standards for urban nature. Municipal budgets are already stretched by housing, transport and aging infrastructure. But this argument overlooks a fundamental reality: We already spend enormous sums responding to the consequences of extreme heat, flooding, poor air quality and declining public health. Healthy urban ecosystems help reduce these costs while delivering multiple benefits simultaneously.

As climate change accelerates, the distinction between gray and green infrastructure becomes increasingly blurred. Trees cool buildings and reduce energy demand. Wetlands decrease flood damage. Parks improve public health and strengthen communities. These are not optional amenities. They are functioning components of urban infrastructure that deserve the same level of planning, investment and accountability as any engineered system.

Building codes transformed the safety of our cities because they established minimum standards that every development had to meet. Climate resilience now demands a similar transformation for urban nature.

The next generation of resilient cities will not be defined simply by how many trees they plant but by the standards they adopt to protect, restore and sustain the living infrastructure urban life depends on.

The real question is not whether cities can afford to invest in urban nature; it is whether they can afford not to.

Opinion on Live Science gives you insight on the most important issues in science that affect you and the world around you today, written by experts and leading scientists in their field.

Today's top story

Earth's climate imbalance breaks record

The world's climate is more out of balance than at any time in recorded history, the UN's weather agency said in a dire warning today.

We already know that human-released carbon emissions blanket Earth's atmosphere and increasingly trap more solar radiation than can be reemitted back into space, creating an imbalance that heats the planet. But a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed that this process is happening faster than any time in history, with 2025 beating the previous record set the year before.

Much of the excess heat, roughly 91%, was absorbed by the oceans; another 5% heated the land; 3% went into ice and 1% into the air. The spillover effects of this planetary heating are also becoming more pronounced. This month alone there has been snow in Alabama, a record-shattering heatwave across the West, and flooding that has prompted evacuations in Hawaii.

The trend

Round 2 for Artemis II

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket is back on its launchpad as the space agency makes a final bid to launch the spacecraft before its April deadline.

This is the second time that the 322-foot-tall (98 meters) Space Launch System and Orion capsule stack has rolled out to the launchpad this year, the first having taken place on Jan. 17. But following two wet dress rehearsals and two leaks, NASA decided to wheel the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.

NASA is expected to announce further tests this week. If the fixes have worked as planned, the rocket could blast off as early as April 1.

Three to read

1. A new twist on matter? Strange 'Half-Mӧbius' molecule has rare properties chemists have never seen before [Live Science]
2. China could be the world’s biggest public funder of science within two years [Nature]
3. 5m tonnes of CO2 emitted in just 14 days of US war on Iran, analysis finds [The Guardian]

Say it, said it

Word of the day

Stereopsis — Greek for "solid sight", used to describe the forward-facing eyes of predators including cats, snakes and humans that judge distance by comparing the slight differences between their two views.

Quote of the day

"Our ability to adapt to our different environments and the cultural adaptations we see, the biological — that's our superpower. That's why there's 9 billion of us and not 9 billion of some other primate."

Herman Pontzer, a professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at Duke University, on how humans used adaptability to take over the planet.

Fun and games

You're reading this on one kind of computer or another. But how much do you know about the history of the now-ubiquitous technology? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Follow Live Science on social media

Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel for the latest discoveries as they happen. It's the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don't use WhatsApp we're also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

Today's top story

The Americas settlement question remains unsettled

A key archaeological site in Chile could be thousands of years younger than first thought, according to a controversial study that threatens to rewrite the earliest history of when humans settled South America.

Monte Verde, a Paleolithic archaeological site in the mountains of southern Chile, stands as one of the oldest human settlements in the Americas and is believed to be 14,500 years old. Its discovery in 1976 fundamentally changed the way archaeologists see the arrival of the first Americans on the continent, as the site is 1,500 years older than the arrival of Clovis people through North America.

But a new study claims the site could be more than 10,000 years younger than first thought, completely upending the accepted understanding of the site and prehistoric migration patterns. But other experts have called the new paper "egregiously poor geological work."

The trend

Feeling the heat

A historic heatwave slamming the American West is on course to set monthly records in more than 140 cities, from California to the Plains, this week.

And it's far from an ordinary one — with the Arizona desert community of Martinez Lake reporting a high of 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), smashing the record for the highest March temperature ever logged in the U.S.

Some scientists are arguing that the planet's increasingly wacky weather extremes are signs that human-driven climate change is accelerating. The debate is happening at the same time as the Iran war, which is already making American consumers reconsider their relationship with oil.

Three to read

1. Scientists witness birth of one of the universe's strongest magnets for the first time, thanks to a general relativity 'magic trick' [Live Science]
2. Carbon dioxide levels are higher than humans have ever experienced. It could be changing our blood chemistry [CNN]
3. Mathematician wins 2026 Abel prize for solving 60-year-old mystery [New Scientist]

Video of the day

Pong, with extra steps

Scientists in China have developed a system to teach humanoid robots movements skills based on fragmentary human data. And they've used it to train an android to play tennis.

While the robot is yet to be a match against professional players, it still returned a 96.5% return rate in its best performance, according to the yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study.

Say it, said it

Word of the day

Metis — Greek for "wisdom," and the name of Zeus' first wife and advisor, who helped him escape from his father Cronus' stomach and whom he repaid by swallowing after learning she will bear a son mightier than him.

Metis, already pregnant with Athena, the goddess of wisdom, helped her daughter escape from Zeus through his forehead. Athena's birth is depicted in the marble sculptures of the Acropolis, a fragment of which has been found near the remains of a shipwreck at the bottom of the Aegean Sea.

Quote of the day

"Thermodynamics tells you what's possible and what's not possible if the laws of the universe are what we think they are. Until now, there's nobody in four centuries of science that has been able to show that the laws of thermodynamics [do not apply]."

Angel Cuesta Ciscar, a professor of electrochemistry and physical chemistry at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, on why it's unlikely that a "dark oxygen" discovery on the seafloor is even possible.

Fun and games

The archaeological community is once again locked into fierce debate over the timeline of the American continent's first settlement. But how much do you know about the first people to reach it? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Follow Live Science on social media

Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel for the latest discoveries as they happen. It's the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don't use WhatsApp we're also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

A major heat wave is set to scorch the central and eastern U.S., with millions of Americans facing potentially record-breaking extreme heat.

Temperatures and humidity will rise as much of the country finds itself under a "heat dome," The Associated Press reported. A heat dome occurs when an area of high pressure in the atmosphere traps warm air beneath, effectively like placing a lid on top of a pot.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned that "extremely dangerous" levels of heat are likely over the weekend and into next week, as sunny days, light winds and a lack of overnight cooling worsen high temperatures.

"Heat is likely to reach dangerous levels over much of the Central and Eastern U.S.," an NWS representative wrote in a weather update posted on Facebook. "Particular concern exists for the Ohio, Valley, Eastern Great Lakes, Interior South, and much of the East Coast, where the heat will be more persistent."

Meteorologists predict that the heat wave will hit the central U.S. between Friday (June 20) and Sunday (June 22), before making its way to the East Coast next week.

Temperatures are expected to reach nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) across the central and eastern U.S. (exceeding 100 F in some areas). Affected cities such as Denver, Washington, D.C., and New York City will experience several consecutive days of heat, weather website AccuWeather reported in a forecast.

Related: 'Heat is the final boss. Heat is a different beast': The planetary peril no one will be able to avoid

"The magnitude and longevity of this heat wave will be a shock to the system," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Chad Merrill said in the forecast.

Moist ground will absorb some of the sun's energy, preventing temperatures from exceeding 100 F over much of the affected area. However, the heat will also evaporate this moisture, adding to what are already expected to be humid conditions, according to AccuWeather.

The NWS warned the anticipated levels of heat can be dangerous to anyone who doesn't have effective cooling systems or adequate hydration, and is especially risky to people taking part in lengthy outdoor activities.

Our warming world

Heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense with climate change. That doesn't necessarily mean climate change is responsible for the latest heat wave, but scientists have long predicted that there will be more of these kinds of extreme weather events as the planet warms.

Last year was the hottest year for global temperatures since records began, while 2025 has already been marked by a string of record-breaking or near-record-breaking warm months.

Modern buildings tend to take electricity and air conditioning for granted. They often have glass facades and windows that can't be opened. And when the power goes out for days in the middle of a heat wave, as the Houston area experienced in July 2024 after Hurricane Beryl, these buildings can become unbearable.

Yet, for millennia, civilizations knew how to shelter humans in hot and dry climates.

As an architectural designer and researcher studying urban resilience, I have examined many of the techniques and the lessons these ancient civilizations can offer for living in hotter and drier conditions.

With global temperatures rising, studies show that dangerously hot summers like those in 2023 and 2024 will become increasingly common, and intense storms might result in more power outages. To prepare for an even hotter future, designers today could learn from the past.

Related: People are getting 2nd-degree burns from sidewalks

Sumerians: Keeping cool together

The Sumerians lived about 6,000 years ago in a hot and dry climate that is now southern Iraq. Even then, they had techniques for managing the heat.

Archaeologists studying remnants of Mesopotamian cities describe how Sumerian buildings used thick walls and small windows that could minimize heat exposure and keep indoor temperatures cool.

The Sumerians built their walls and roofs with materials such as adobe or mud that can absorb heat during the day and release it during the nighttime.

They also constructed buildings right next to each other, which reduced the number of walls exposed to the intense solar radiation. Small courtyards provided lighting and ventilation. Narrow streets ensured shade throughout the day and allowed pedestrians to move comfortably through the city.

Ancient Egyptians: Harnessing the wind

The ancient Egyptians also used materials that could help keep the heat out. Palaces were made of stone and had courtyards. Residential buildings were made of mud brick.

Many people also adopted a nomadic behavior within their buildings to escape the heat: They used rooftop terraces, which were cooler at night, as sleeping quarters.

To cool buildings, the Egyptians developed a unique technology called the mulqaf, which consists of tall wall openings facing the prevailing winds. These openings act as scoops to capture wind and funnel it downward to help cool the building. The entering wind creates air circulation that helps vent heat out through other openings.

The mulqaf principle could also be scaled up to cool larger spaces. Known as a wind catcher, it is currently used in buildings in the Middle East and Central Asia, making them comfortable without air conditioning, even during very hot periods.

Ancient Puebloans: Working with the sun

Civilizations on other continents and at other times developed similar strategies for living in hot and dry climates, and they developed their own unique solutions, too.

The Puebloans in what today is the U.S. Southwest used small windows, materials such as mud brick and rock, and designed buildings with shared walls to minimize the heat getting in.

They also understood the importance of solar orientation. The ancient Puebloans built entire communities under the overhang of south-facing cliffs. This orientation ensured their buildings were shaded and stayed cooler during the summertime but received sunlight and radiated heat to stay warmer during the wintertime.

Their descendants adopted similar orientation and other urban-planning strategies, and adobe homes are still common in the U.S. Southwest.

Muslim caliphates: Using every drop of rain where it falls

Modern water management is also rarely designed for dry climates. Stormwater infrastructure is created to funnel runoff from rainstorms away from the city as fast as possible. Yet, the same cities must bring in water for people and gardens, sometimes from faraway sources.

During the eighth century, the Muslim caliphates in arid lands of northern Africa and the south of Spain designed their buildings with rainwater harvesting techniques to capture water. Runoff from rainfall was collected throughout the roof and directed to cisterns. The slope of the roof and the courtyard floor directed the water so it could be used to irrigate the vegetated landscapes of their courtyards.

Modern-day Mendoza, Argentina, uses this approach to irrigate the plants and trees lining its magnificent city streets.

Mayans and Teotihuacans: Capturing rainwater for later

At the city scale, people also collected and stored stormwater to withstand the dry season.

The ancient Teotihuacan city of Xochicalco and many Mayan cities in what today is Mexico and Central America used their pyramids, plazas and aqueducts to direct stormwater to large cisterns for future use. Plants were often used to help clean the water.

Scientists today are exploring ways to store rainwater with good quality in India and other countries. Rainwater harvesting and green infrastructure are now recognized as effective strategies to increase urban resilience.

Putting these lessons to work

Each of these ancient cultures offers lessons for staying cool in hot, dry climates that modern designers can learn from today.

Some architects are already using them to improve designs. For example, buildings in the northern hemisphere can be oriented to maximize southern exposure. South-facing windows combined with shading devices can help reduce solar radiation in the summer but allow solar heating in winter. Harvesting rainwater and using it to irrigate gardens and landscapes can help reduce water consumption, adapt to drier conditions and increase urban resilience.

Retrofitting modern cities and their glass towers for better heat control isn't simple, but there are techniques that can be adapted to new designs for living better in hotter and drier climates and for relying less on constant summer air conditioning. These ancient civilizations can teach us how.

This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Severe turbulence, record rainfall, killer heatwaves and raging wildfires to name but a few: is it just me, or is "Is Earth's weather getting weirder?" The answer? Yes. Well, sort of. 

These weather events have happened in the past, but the problem is nowadays they're happening more frequently and to a far greater extent. 

What's causing this uptick in "global weirding" and is there anything we can do about it? Space.com spoke with a leading climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe to learn more about this strange surge in weird weather events and what it means for us.

Related: 'The last 12 months have broken records like never before': Earth exceeds 1.5 C warming every month for entire year

It's no secret that Earth's climate has changed dramatically over its 4.5 billion-year history. Nature has seen both warmer and colder conditions before. But it is the current rate of change that is putting the living world at risk.

"Each of us, wherever we live, are experiencing the impacts of climate change today," climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe told Space.com in an interview. 

Some of us might not even be aware of the impacts climate change is having on our everyday lives. From how more extreme weather events are causing home insurance rates to rise, or how our food is becoming less nutritious and drinking water more scarce, whether we like it or not, we are all affected by climate change.

One significant direct effect of climate change is the upturn of extreme weather events that put lives at risk and have a huge economic impact. Extreme weather events attributable to climate change cost the world $143 billion USD per year, the majority of which (63%) is due to loss of human lives, according to a research paper published in the Journal Nature in 2023. 

But just how is Earth's weather getting weirder?

Heat waves

Let's begin with one of the more obvious effects of climate change: heat waves. As the world gets warmer, heat waves are not only becoming more frequent but also much more intense. 

The recent heat wave along the U.S. West Coast saw Las Vegas hit its all-time temperature record of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius). Approximately 36 million people were exposed to an excessive warning during the extreme heatwave with temperatures running as much as 20 degrees above average for this time of year.

In Saudi Arabia, over 1,300 people died during the annual Hajj pilgrimage that coincided with an exceptional heatwave. Temperatures of 125 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius) were reported at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, according to the BBC. Greece has just experienced the earliest heatwave recorded in the country, and several tourists died, including British TV and radio presenter Michael Mosley. Meanwhile, northern India is reeling from the most severe heat waves it has ever seen with reported temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius). Summers in India are notoriously hot and humid, but this year's heat waves have been longer, more intense and far more frequent, according to the BBC. 

Heat waves occur when a high-pressure atmospheric system moves in and pushes warm air down toward the ground. The trouble we are currently facing is that the high-pressure systems are being reinforced as the planet warms, catalyzing a vicious cycle. 

"The warmer it is, the stronger the high-pressure system, and the stronger the high-pressure system, the warmer it is," Hayhoe explained. 

Heavy rainfall and flash floods

Another by-product of a warmer world is that a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor. Wherever moisture-laden air passes over land or converges into a storm system, it can produce more severe precipitation, for example, heavier rain and snow storms.

Atmospheric rivers are one of the big players when it comes to heavy precipitation events. An atmospheric river is a river of moisture in the sky. When one of these approaches a mountain, the air is forced to rise. As it does, the air cools and the water condenses and falls out as rain.

"So what's happening is atmospheric rivers are getting stronger and bigger because they're picking up a lot more water vapor. After all, the warmer it is, the more water evaporates from the ocean." Hayhoe continued.

During the 2023/2024 fall and winter seasons, rainfall in the U.K. and Ireland was about 20% heavier due to human-induced climate change, according to the World Weather Attribution.

This year, downpours and floods have already wreaked havoc around the world, and it doesn't look like stopping anytime soon. In May a catastrophic flood struck Afghanistan, killing over 300 people in the provinces of Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan. In June, heavy rain swept across Switzerland, France and Italy causing landslides and torrential floods, at least seven people are reported to have been killed. In India, Nepal and Bangladesh large-scale flooding is not uncommon during the monsoon season but this year's abnormally early heavy rainfall has killed more than 40 people so far.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones

Hurricanes and typhoons are a type of weather phenomenon known as tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclone is an overarching term used to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed low-level circulation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Once wind speeds reach 74 miles per hour or higher, a tropical cyclone is classified as a hurricane, typhoon or tropical cyclone depending on where the storm originates. The term hurricane is used in the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific. The term typhoon is used for a disturbance in the Northwest Pacific, while the generic tropical cyclone term is used in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean. 

No matter their name, these storms are unique in that they're powered by warm ocean water. 

The planet's oceans are particularly vulnerable to climate change and our warming world. "90% of the extra heat being trapped inside the climate system is going into the ocean, not the atmosphere," Hayhoe explained. This means that there is a lot of energy to power stronger storms. As such, a far greater proportion of named storms are further intensifying and developing into hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones. 

"The storms are not only there intensifying faster, they're moving more slowly. So they're sitting over you for longer and they're dumping much more rain," Hayhoe continued. 

Hurricane Harvey, which hit the U.S. in 2017, was the first significant hurricane to hit the U.S. where scientists could calculate how much of an effect climate change had on the event. Scientists found that climate change made the rainfall over Houston, Texas, during the hurricane event, three times more likely and 15% more intense.  

Wildfires

Another significant effect of climate change is a rise in how often severe wildfires occur. Wildfires have destroyed over 1.7 million acres of land during the first three months of 2024 in the U.S. alone, according to the Independent.

Though a majority of wildfires in heavily populated areas like the U.S. are due to accidental human ignition, they are exacerbated by climate change, specifically hotter, drier weather. 

"Imagine that you accidentally drop a match into a pile of green wet wood. What happens? Not much, imagine if there's snow around the wood, nothing happens" Hayhoe explains "Now imagine you drop that match into a pile of bone dry wood that's been baking in extreme heat for weeks, and even months," Hayhoe continues.

"That's why we see that the area burned by wildfires and the number of large wildfires is increasing."

Wildfire seasons are also coming earlier and lasting longer. For example, this year's wildfire season in Canada began in February, just like it did last year. In the past, however, it wouldn't start until March.

Last year (2023), Canada witnessed a fire season like no other, with approximately 45 million acres burned by over 6,500 fires. To put this into perspective, the total area burned in 2023 was eight times higher than the 40-year average, according to a report by the BBC.

Unfortunately, this devastating scenario will become more common due to climate change.

Unlike U.S. wildfires, most of the wildfires in the northern forests, like the ones observed in Canada, are caused by lightning strikes, not humans. Scientists predict an increase in lightning frequency by 11-31% for every degree of global warming, according to the BBC's report. This is because warmer air can hold more moisture, about 7% more moisture per 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of warming. As moisture is a key ingredient in thunderstorm development, the more moisture in the air, the higher the chance of thunderstorms and accompanying lightning strikes.

Air turbulence

In May 2024, a Singapore Airlines flight encountered a severe bout of turbulence which left one person dead from a suspected heart attack and several others badly injured. The same month, a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Ireland endured strong turbulence over Turkey, leaving 12 people injured. In July 2024, dozens were injured after an Air Europa flight was hit by severe turbulence; the flight from Spain to Uruguay had to make an emerging landing in Brazil. 

A bit of turbulence is par for the course for air travelers. But a recent uptick in severe incidents has left people wondering whether climate change is to blame. 

It's a difficult one to pin directly onto climate change but there is evidence to support that it could be increasing the risk of turbulence, according to the BBC.

Two main types of air turbulence affect air travel, one is from thunderstorms and the other is called "clear air" turbulence.

Turbulence caused by thunderstorms is likely to increase because the frequency of thunderstorms is increasing due to climate change, as previously discussed. But this type of turbulence is less problematic for pilots, as it is linked to storms and therefore easier to predict. 

The other type, "clear air" turbulence, also called "invisible turbulence" is highly unpredictable and is one of the largest causes of weather-related aviation incidents. It is expected to worsen with climate change, and under specific climate change scenarios, it could become four times more frequent by 2050 compared to historical levels.

All hope is not lost

"Wherever we look around the world, we see that these weather events are getting supersized by climate change, and they're putting us all at risk," Hayhoe explains.

Though it may be hard to find any positives in a sea of negative climate change news, rest assured that the tides are changing. People are increasingly recognizing the impacts and severity of climate change. However, it remains uncertain if this awareness is spreading quickly enough. What is clear is that we all share responsibility for climate change and can take steps to mitigate it.

Without action, there is no hope. 

What you can do to help

If you're like me and often feel overwhelmed by the negative effects of climate change while also thinking "How can I help, I'm just one person?" Hayhoe has laid out a great list of how individuals can help catalyze change for the better and feel like they are making a difference. 

• Start a conversation about why it matters, and what people can do. "That's why I do my newsletter every week," Hayhoe explains. Every week Hayhoe provides a clear-eyed and hopeful look at climate science and solutions. 
•  Join a climate action group. Don't be alone, join one in your town, in your city, at your school, at your church, wherever it is. And if you don't have one, think about setting one up, Friends of the Earth have some useful tips on how to start.  
• Consider where you keep your money. "Where we bank, the credit card we use, where we have our pension or retirement, if it's invested in fossil fuels, it's perpetuating the system," Hayhoe explains. We should be looking at banks that invest in clean energy and environmentally friendly enterprises like clean energy, that way we are actively contributing towards a better world with our own money.  
• Spark ideas for change wherever you work or wherever you go to school. "That's using your voice specifically, saying why don't we do this together as a business or an organization?" Hayhoe says. 
• Hold politicians accountable. Hayhoe explains that this doesn't only mean voting but also using your voice to tell them why it matters. "Studies have shown that politicians consistently underestimate how concerned their constituents are because they don't hear from them enough," says Hayhoe. 
• Reduce your personal footprint. The environmental charity World Wildlife Fund has some useful resources on how you can reduce your carbon footprint, from changing the way you travel to what you eat.  

Originally posted on Space.com.

Earth has broken temperature records for 13 consecutive months — with every month registering temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial averages, according to a new report. 

Every month since June 2023 has been hotter than the one preceding it, making the global average temperature between July 2023 and June 2024 1.64 C (3 F) greater than it was before the Industrial Revolution, when humans started burning fossil fuels to release huge quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

"This is more than a statistical oddity and it highlights a large and continuing shift in our climate. Even if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm," Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) which made the report, said in a statement. "This is inevitable, unless we stop adding [greenhouse gases] into the atmosphere and the oceans."  

The 12-month streak was in part driven by El Niño (a climate cycle where waters in the tropical eastern Pacific grow warmer than usual) which persisted from June 2023 to May 2024, leading to above-average sea temperatures across the east and central equatorial Pacific. 

"The climate continues to alarm us — the last 12 months have broken records like never before — caused primarily by our greenhouse gas emissions and an added boost from the El Niño event in the tropical Pacific," Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, said in the statement.

Related: Gulf Stream's fate to be decided by climate 'tug-of-war' 

Scientists consider global warming of 2 C (3.6 F) above pre-Industrial Revolution temperatures an important threshold — warming beyond this greatly increases the likelihood of devastating and irreversible climate breakdown. 

But 1.5 C is also an important limit. With rises of 1.5 C, the world's climate edges closer to multiple tipping points that will unleash heat waves, floods, famine and the widespread destruction of ecosystems, the United Nations warned in a 2018 special report. 

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nearly 200 countries pledged to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 C and safely below 2 C. 

While the new findings are troubling, the report stresses that the 1.5 C and 2 C limits are targets for the planet over a 20- to 30-year period — meaning the pledges haven't been officially broken just yet. 

But the record-high temperatures are unlikely to fall anytime soon, researchers say. Scientists initially hoped that the end of El Niño might offer the planet a reprieve, but the U.S. is still projected to have warmer-than-average temperatures for the rest of the summer, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

"I now estimate that there is an approximately 95% chance that 2024 beats 2023 to be the warmest year since global surface temperature records began in the mid-1800s," Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the U.S. non-profit Berkeley Earth, wrote on X.

Millions of people will likely experience record high temperatures in the coming days and weeks as a heat wave takes hold of the U.S. West Coast.

An estimated 36 million people — roughly 10% of the U.S. population — will be affected in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, Reuters reported on Sunday (July 7). 

The scorching temperatures are being driven by a heat dome. A heat dome is created when warm air becomes trapped beneath a stagnant patch of high-pressure air in the atmosphere — similar to water vapor trapped by a lid on a pot — according to the Royal Meteorological Society. Heat domes can block weather from passing through, causing extreme heat conditions. 

"A deep and well entrenched upper-level [atmospheric pressure] ridge stationed over the West will support the continuation of an extreme heat wave across the region early this week," National Weather Service (NWS) representatives wrote in a statement on Monday (July 8). "Temperature records will likely be tied or broken over the next couple of days as a result of this unusual heat."

Related: Is Earth really getting too hot for people to survive?

Temperatures averaging between 95 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit (35 to 46 degrees Celsius) are likely to hit California and Oregon first, before striking Washington state, the Great Basin and Arizona later this week, according to the statement. The record-high temperatures are just one example of regional heat waves that have grown more frequent, hotter and longer in duration due to human-induced climate change.

The stifling heat dome is producing temperatures 15 to 30 F (8 to 17 C) above normal for this time of year, according to the statement. In Redding, California, temperatures are running 20 F (11 C) above average. On Saturday (July 6), the city recorded all-time-high temperatures of 119 F (48 C), NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson told Reuters. 

Death Valley National Park could see temperatures soaring up to 130 F (54 C) through Friday. The park, which sits on the border between California and Nevada, already experienced blistering heat this weekend, with temperatures reaching 128 F (53 C), breaking a 17-year record, Reuters reported. 

"We're expecting it [the heat] to merely drift east through the early part of next week and basically persist through the week, so we've got a real expansive and extreme heat wave ongoing," Jackson told the news agency.

Another 37 million people across the West Coast are either under heat advisories, meaning they are likely to be affected by extreme heat within the next few hours, or under heat watches, which are issued when a heat event is likely in the next 24 to 72 hours, Reuters reported. 

This striking photo shows an unusual cloud spiral nestled perfectly along the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula in 2017. 

The spiral consists of moist, cloudy air from the sea that's been swirled together with clear, dry air from the land by a phenomenon known as cyclonic rotation — the same mechanism that is responsible for generating tropical storms such as hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. 

However, in this case, the rotation was much slower and weaker than the rotation during tropical storms, so the cloudy and dry air did not fully mix together, which prevented a proper vortex from forming. This also stopped any clouds from passing over the land. (The image has been edited slightly to include more infrared light, in order to accentuate the difference between the land and cloud.)

"Precisely what caused this [unusual] mid-latitude rotation remains somewhat of a mystery," Stephen Jospeh Munchak, a meteorologist at NASA's Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory told NASA's Earth Observatory. However, it could have been caused by an eddy — a temporary, swirling current of water that extends deep below the ocean's surface, he added. 

An extreme heat wave that swept across Southern Europe in July 2017 also created an usually large temperature difference between the cloudy, sea air and the dry, land air. This may have further prevented the two fronts from mixing, helping to create the stunning spiral shape. When this photo was taken, temperatures in Spain and Portugal were above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

Related: 12 amazing images of Earth from space

The clouds in the spiral are marine stratocumulus clouds — common low-lying clouds that usually stay below 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) and can cover up to 6.5% of Earth's surface at any one time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Interestingly, marine stratocumulus clouds normally only appear along the western coasts of Earth's landmasses, according to NOAA. This is because they form when cold water from the deep sea is brought to the surface by Earth's spin — also known as the Coriolis effect — which cools the air above and enables water vapor to condense into clouds. Along eastern coastlines, the Coriolis effect does not push cold water toward the coast, which means it does not rise toward the surface.

The rotating clouds in the image stretched for hundreds of miles and likely persisted for several days. However, it is unlikely that they released any precipitation, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

Similar cloud cyclones have appeared off the Iberian coast and the western coast of Morocco in the past but they are not normally as defined as the spiral in this photo, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

More than 10 billion snow crabs recently vanished from the Bering Sea, and now we know why: They fell victim to one of the biggest marine heat wave die-offs on record, new research shows.

The deadly heat wave, which struck polar waters between Alaska and Siberia in 2018 and lasted for two years, triggered record-high ocean temperatures and historic declines in sea ice. These "unprecedented" circumstances brought a large population of snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio) living in the eastern Bering Sea to its knees, according to a new study, published Thursday (Oct. 19) in the journal Science. 

"The collapse of the snow crab population was a strong response to a marine heatwave," researchers wrote in the study. Rather than succumbing directly to warm ocean temperatures, however, it appears the crabs died of starvation.

Snow crabs are small, round-shelled crustaceans that can live for up to 20 years on soft seabeds that are less than 650 feet (200 meters) deep, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The species is closely monitored and managed in the eastern Bering Sea due to its commercial value as seafood.

Related: Why do animals keep evolving into crabs?

Scientists first noticed a dramatic drop in the number of snow crabs during a survey in 2021, which "found the fewest snow crab on the eastern Bering shelf since the survey began in 1975," researchers wrote in the study. No survey was conducted in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is why scientists only noticed the crabs had disappeared the following year. But until now, the cause of the population collapse remained a mystery.

It turns out that warm water temperatures caused by the heat wave probably affected the metabolism of the crabs and increased their caloric needs, according to the study. Previous research conducted in a laboratory found that snow crabs' energy requirements doubled when water temperatures rose from 32 degrees to 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees to 3 degrees Celsius). This jump in temperature is equivalent to the change experienced from 2017 to 2018 by juvenile snow crabs, which live in frigid waters known as the "cold pool" and migrate to warmer spots as they mature, according to the study.

Snow crabs' increased caloric needs were reflected by a change in body size between 2017 and 2018, with smaller crabs caught during a survey after the heat wave had begun, according to the study.

The snow crabs also fell victim to bad timing. Right around the time of the heat wave, the crab population in the eastern Bering Sea had boomed, according to the study. The combination of more crabs and higher caloric needs proved deadly.

Other factors — such as predation by Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), cannibalism of smaller crabs by larger ones, fishing and disease — likely contributed to the mortality event, but "temperature and population density were the key variables in the recent collapse," they added. 

The effects of rapidly rising ocean temperatures and more frequent heat waves in response to climate change are difficult to predict, researchers wrote in the study, but the snow crab die-off is "a prime example for how quickly the outlook can change for a population."

And while the future of snow crabs in the eastern Bering Sea is now "precariously uncertain" as they haven't recovered from the mortality event, the population may eventually find refuge in colder waters further north. How the mass death might affect the wider ecosystem remains unclear.

"The problems currently faced in the Bering Sea foreshadow the problems that will need to be confronted globally," the researchers wrote. "The disappearance of snow crab will be a staggering blow to the functioning of some communities in rural Alaska, such as those on St. Paul Island, which rely strongly on the revenue derived from the capture and processing of snow crab."

Earth just had its hottest summer in recorded history, data released Wednesday (Sept. 6) by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals.

June to August 2023 were the hottest months ever and are yet another sign that climate change is happening.

Global sea surface temperatures broke new records each consecutive month, while Antarctic sea ice extent remained at a record low for the current time of year.

"Our planet has just endured a season of simmering — the hottest summer on record," U.N. secretary-general António Guterres said in a statement. "Climate breakdown has begun."

The summer was characterized by relentless heat waves around the world. In July, numerous countries — including the U.S., Mexico, Spain and China — experienced national heat records, with over 200 heat-related deaths reported in Mexico alone.

Related: 15 unexpected effects of climate change

Global sea-surface temperatures have been especially high over the past five months and remained at record-high levels throughout April, May, June and July 2023. In August 2023, the sea-surface temperature was 69.76 degrees Fahrenheit (20.98 degrees Celsius), surpassing the previous March 2016 heat record every single day that month.

"What we are observing, not only new extremes but the persistence of these record-breaking conditions and the impacts these have on both people and planet, are a clear consequence of the warming of the climate system," Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in the statement.

According to the WMO data, August this year was the hottest on record "by a large margin" and the hottest month ever after July 2023. The month's combined land and ocean surface temperature was 2.7 F (1.5 C) higher than the 1850 to 1900 average.

"Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash," Guterres said. "Surging temperatures demand a surge in action. Leaders must turn up the heat now for climate solutions. We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos – and we don’t have a moment to lose."

But in the short term, conditions could get worse as El Niño takes shape.

"It is worth noting that this is happening before we see the full warming impact of the El Niño event,” WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in statement.

El Niño is a weather pattern in which a belt of warm water sits off the Pacific coast of South America, which often leads to warmer global temperatures and extreme weather events. Heatwaves, fires and floods are likely to increase as El Niño conditions develop in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years. According to the WMO, there is a 90% chance that the ocean-warming event will continue throughout the second half of 2023.

Coastal waters around Florida have reached alarming temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) with no sign of cooling off anytime soon, experts say.

The Sunshine State is in the midst of its hottest year in modern history, with temperatures over land averaging in the mid 90s F (35 C) — 3 to 5 F (1.7 to 2.8 C) above normal for this time of year. Ocean waters have absorbed much of this heat, causing sea temperatures to soar to record highs, which could spell trouble for marine ecosystems and strengthen storms and hurricanes.

"It's an astounding, prolonged heat wave even for a place that's no stranger to sultry weather," Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami's School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, told the Washington Post. "It's not something we like to see near land simply because it would allow a storm to maintain a high intensity right up to landfall or rapidly intensify as it approaches landfall." 

Related: Heat waves are hitting the deep ocean floor, with potentially catastrophic results 

The marine heat wave has hit at a time when the water is already warm, "bringing it up to bona fide bathtub conditions that we rarely see," he added.

Waters off Florida typically reach temperatures in the high 80s F (31 C) in July, said Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist at the television station WFLA-TV in Tampa. But temperatures this year are "boiling," he wrote on Twitter on Monday (July 10). 

The current bath-like conditions are consistent with a "severe" marine heat wave, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The agency defines marine heat waves as "prolonged periods of anomalously high sea surface temperature" that can impact "a broad range of marine life."

This includes coral bleaching, as reefs are "extremely sensitive to slight changes (just a few degrees) in water [temperature]," Berardelli wrote. NOAA's Coral Reef Watch has designted an "Alert Level 1" area off the coast of Florida — the second-highest warning on the scale — with "significant bleaching likely."

The spike in ocean heat in Florida is partly attributable to unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico and to record-breaking sea surface temperatures worldwide. "Very, very light" and "inconsistent" winds over the state have also played a role, Berardelli noted.

"We have a very off weather pattern this summer, and sea surface [temperatures] respond to that," he wrote. While "a nice breeze" typically sweeps over Florida from the southeast this time of year, the state has seen near-windless conditions — and when there is wind, it has brought warmer air from the Gulf of Mexico in the west, Berardelli added.

These conditions mean there has been little to no mixing of the sun-exposed top layer of water with colder waters below.

Another factor contributing to the marine heat wave could be low rainfall over the Floridian peninsula, which usually acts to cool the ocean surface, Berardelli wrote.

The unprecedented water temperatures are intensifying the heat wave on land, which is predicted to rage on for at least another week. Increased ocean warmth raises humidity and keeps air temperatures high during the night. As a result, the state has recorded heat indexes — which factor in humidity to measure how hot the air feels — topping 110 F (43 C).

In June, NOAA reported that 40% of the world's oceans were facing marine heat waves, and this record-breaking percentage is predicted to increase to 50% by September. The effects are tied to climate change compounded by an ongoing El Niño event, with oceans absorbing 90% of the extra heat in the climate system. 

For the first time, scientists have named a heat wave. They called it Zoe. 

According to USA Today, the Spanish scientists bestowed the moniker on a heat wave that sent temperatures soaring to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius) in Seville between July 24 and July 27. It's a new effort to alert the public to extreme temperatures and warn them of the dangers, José María Martín Olalla, an associate professor in the department of condensed matter physics at Sevilla University, told the newspaper. 

Hurricanes have long received human names, and an unofficial practice of giving winter storms nicknames emerged in2012 in the United States. But Zoe is the first heat wave to be given a name. The name is an effort of the proMETEO Sevilla Project, an initiative of the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research center and non-profit organization. Seville is the pilot location for the project, which aims to raise public awareness of extreme heat and to advocate for efforts to reduce the dangers of heat waves.

Related: How heat waves kill so quickly

Heat waves aren't just toasty days. They're defined by the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) as episodes of at least three consecutive days during which a minimum of 10% of weather stations record maximum temperatures above the 95th percentile for July to August between 1971 to 2000. There is no single definition of a heat wave in the United States, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a benchmark of at least two days when the daily minimum temperature, adjusted for humidity, is greater than the 85th percentile for July and August between 1981 and 2010.

Heat waves can be dangerous, especially for vulnerable populations like older individuals and people who do manual labor outdoors. The World Health Organization calculated in 2018 that between 2000 and 2016, the number of people exposed to extreme heat each year increased by 125 million. In July, temperatures in England exceeded 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) for the first time on record. This level of heat can be deadly, particularly in regions that lack air conditioning or buildings constructed to cope with high temperatures.

The United States is also experiencing periods of extreme heat as the climate changes. Today (Aug. 15), the nonprofit First Street Foundation released a report highlighting where extreme heat is likely to become more common in future decades. Their modeling suggests that the Deep South, southern Arizona and southern to central California will experience some of the most extreme shifts. For example, Miami-Dade County in Florida will likely experience 34 days above 103 degrees F (39.4 degrees C) by 2053, compared with seven today. 

Related: What are the effects of global warming? 

While 8 million people in the United States this year will experience a heat index above 125 degrees F (51.6 degrees C), a staggering 107 million are expected to experience those temperatures by 2053, the nonprofit found. (Heat index takes into account humidity to adjust how a given air temperature feels to the human body. The higher the humidity, the warmer a given air temperature will feel.) 

Zoe may be the first named heat wave, but it won't be the last. Authorities in Spain plan to alternate female and male names in reverse alphabetical order for future heat events. By naming heat waves, proMETEO Sevilla hopes to let the public know that they'll need to take extra care, USA Today reported. In a heat wave, the WHO advises keeping cool by opening windows at night to let cooler air in and keeping light out during the day. Special care should be taken to ensure that infants, people over the age of 60, or those with chronic health conditions be kept cool.

Originally published on Live Science.

It's been a sweltering week for many in the northern hemisphere. Temperatures in parts of England rose past 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday (July 19), a record never before seen in the country, while more than 100 million Americans were under excessive heat warnings as of Tuesday evening. The heat is not just uncomfortable. It can be deadly. 

In Spain and Portugal, the broiling temperatures of the last two weeks have contributed to 1,169 deaths, according to ABC News. The fatalities harken back to the devastating 2003 European heat wave, in which 14,802 people died of hyperthermia in France alone. Most were elderly people living alone in apartment buildings without air conditioning, according to Richard Keller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medical history and bioethics and author of "Fatal Isolation: The Devastating Paris Heat Wave of 2003" (University of Chicago Press, 2015).

So how does heat kill? When core body temperature rises too high, everything breaks down: The gut leaks toxins into the body, cells begin to die, and a devastating inflammatory response can occur. 

Part of the insidiousness of heat-related deaths is how quickly they can happen. Older individuals are more at risk, often because their cardiovascular systems are less resilient to the strain caused by excess heat, according to a 2014 article in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. But in extreme enough temperatures, even young, physically fit people can succumb quickly. One victim of a heat wave in Phoenix in 2017 was a personal trainer who was mountain biking with friends on a day when temperatures would soar to 118 F (47.7 C). Despite drinking plenty of water and biking with two doctors who immediately attempted to resuscitate her, the woman died, according to ABC15 News. And in 2021, Philip Kreycik, an expert trail runner in California succumbed to heat stroke, on a day when temperatures approached the triple-digits, Outside reported.

And in Northern California that same summer, a family was found dead in Sierra National Forest for similar reasons. The story made national news because it was not clear at first what had killed the family. But an investigation showed that temperatures reached up to 109  F (42.7 C) that August day, and the family ran out of water, according to NPR. Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and their dog, Oski, all died. 

• Related: Heat intolerance: symptoms, causes and treatment

Sudden death

These kinds of tragedies aren't typical heat deaths, however, Keller told Live Science. Rather, they're "like shots across the bow telling you that something is coming," he said. Outdoorsy types and outdoor workers like roofers might suffer first, but it's the elderly and the mentally ill who make up the majority of deaths.

The medical term for excessive body heat is hyperthermia. The first phase is heat exhaustion, a condition marked by heavy sweat, nausea, vomiting and even fainting. The pulse races, and the skin goes clammy. Muscle cramping can be an early sign of heat exhaustion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Heat exhaustion can be reversed by moving to a cool location, loosening clothing and applying cool, wet washcloths to the body. But when people with heat exhaustion can't find relief, they can quickly advance to heat stroke. This condition happens when a person's core body temperature rises above 104 F (40 C). (This number is something of an estimate; there are a few degrees' variability among people as to how much internal heat they can tolerate.)

In heat stroke, sweating stops and the skin becomes dry and flushed. The pulse is rapid. The person becomes delirious and may pass out. When trying to compensate for extreme heat, the body dilates the blood vessels in the skin in an attempt to cool the blood. To do this, the body has to constrict the blood vessels in the gut. The reduced blood flow to the gut increases the permeability between the cells that normally keep gut contents in, and toxins can leak into the blood, according to a book chapter in the textbook "Wilderness Medicine" (Mosby, 2011).

These leaky toxins trigger a massive inflammatory response in the body, so massive that the attempt to fight off the toxins damages the body's own tissues and organs. It can be hard to tell what damage is caused directly by heat and what is caused by the secondary effects of toxins, according to Wilderness Medicine. Muscle cells break down, spilling their contents into the bloodstream and overloading the kidneys, which in turn start to fail, a condition called rhabdomyolysis. 

Proteins in the spleen start to clump as a direct result of heat; they're essentially cooked. The blood-brain barrier that normally keeps pathogens out of the brain becomes more permeable, allowing dangerous substances into the brain. Autopsies of people killed by heat stroke often reveal microhemorrhages (tiny strokes) and swelling, and 30% of heat stroke survivors experience permanent damage in brain function, according to Wilderness Medicine.

Far from help

As many as 10% of people who experience heat stroke die, according to the American Association of Family Physicians (AAFP). Heat exhaustion requires immediate medical treatment and rapid cooling.

In the case of a hiker on a trail, there may not be time to get to a spot that's cool enough to reverse the damage. Similarly, people who live in urban areas and lack air conditioning may end up disabled in their own homes, unable to get help before they die from heat stroke.

The elderly and those with chronic medical conditions have more difficulty regulating their body temperatures than those in midlife, Keller said, and medications for some chronic diseases can make the problem worse. Likewise, the signals between body and brain that make people feel thirsty may not function as well in old age. (Babies and young children also have more difficulty regulating their temperature than people in the prime of life.)

The elderly, neurologically disabled and mentally ill also tend to be more socially isolated than their younger, healthier counterparts.

"They tend to find themselves socially isolated," Keller said. "And that's really, far and away, the biggest risk factor for dying during a heat wave."

In France in 2003, the heat hit in August, when many Europeans go on vacation. Elderly people found themselves in mostly empty apartment buildings when the heat crisis reached them. Some were found dead with their doors ajar, Keller said, suggesting that they were trying to get out and get help when they collapsed.

Others were functionally trapped, he said. An 80-year-old in a seventh-floor walkup who recently had hip surgery can't get down the stairs by themselves.

"They had no way to seek help," Keller said.

Finally, some may not have realized the severity of the situation. A 2013 analysis by the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that people who died of heat stroke in that city were not necessarily more likely to live alone than people who survived, in contrast to the 2003 European heat wave. However, the people who died in New York might not have been aware of the warning signs of heat stroke, the researchers wrote. Some people during the European heat wave probably thought they were going through an uncomfortable time and didn't recognize how precarious their survival was, Keller said.

Regions used to high heat are built to keep people comfortable despite soaring temperatures, Keller said, so they're unlikely to see high levels of mortality. Most at-risk are low-income people or those living in marginal housing, such as mobile homes, he said. The United Kingdom is not accustomed to dealing with heat; a 2021 government report estimated that only 5% of homes in England have air conditioning.

Arizona's Department of Health Services has shared the following tips for preventing heat illness:

• Drink at least 2 liters (about a half-gallon) of water per day if you are mostly indoors and 1 to 2 additional liters for every hour of outdoor time. Drink before you feel thirsty, and avoid alcohol and caffeine.
• Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing and use a sun hat or an umbrella to deflect the sun's rays.
• Eat smaller, more frequent meals instead of large ones.
• Avoid strenuous activity.
• Stay indoors as much as possible.
• Take regular breaks if you must exert yourself on warm days.

Original article published on Live Science on June 20, 2016 and updated on July 20, 2022.

As England bakes under record-breaking heat, a surge in wildfires has led the London Fire Brigade to declare the blazes a "major incident" in the nation's capital, where temperatures recently exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) for the very first time.

Burnt ash and smoke filled London's air as 350 firefighters battled numerous fires across the city; some residents were forced to flee as their homes were consumed by the flames. London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that the "huge surge" in the number of blazes was putting the fire service under "immense pressure." 

Since last week, hundreds of wildfires have been reported across mainland Europe and England, as the continent reels under a blistering heat wave. Temperatures across the normally temperate United Kingdom have risen above those typically recorded in equatorial locations such as Jamaica, the Maldives and Barbados, according to the U.K. Meteorological Office. At Heathrow Airport on Tuesday (July 19) at 12:50 p.m. local time, the U.K.'s meteorological office recorded a provisional highest temperature of 104.3 F (40.2 C). This temperature, when it is verified, is set to smash a previous high record of 101.66 F (38.7 C), set in 2019.

Related: Could climate change make humans go extinct?

"It's virtually impossible for the U.K. to experience 40 C in an undisrupted climate. But climate change, driven by greenhouse gases, has made these extreme temperatures possible — and we're actually seeing that possibility now," Stephen Belcher, the chief scientist of the U.K. Meteorological Office, said in a video statement.

Sweltering weather in recent days has disrupted travel and affected schools and hospitals across the country. Many U.K. homes and public buildings were designed to trap and insulate heat, and do not have air conditioning. The extreme heat has forced London's Luton Airport to suspend operations, and has warped a main road in eastern England so much that it now resembles a "skatepark," according to a local police statement. Data from the two Sentinel-3 Earth observation satellites has also revealed that ground temperatures in the U.K. soared above 122 F (50 C) on Monday morning (July 18) — the first day of the heatwave's forecasted two-day peak. 

Extreme heat is also scorching much of Europe, where the European Union's satellite program Copernicus observed that more than 154 square miles (400 square kilometers) of land in France, Spain and Portugal was set ablaze in the last 10 days. 

Weather patterns are likely to become even more extreme and unpredictable as Earth warms due to climate change. According to a study published June 28 in the journal Environmental Science: Climate, heatwaves that would have had a 1 in 10 chance of happening during any given year in the pre-industrial age would now occur nearly three times more often on average, and would be 2.2 degrees F (1.2 degrees C) hotter; and heat waves that had a 1 in 50 chance of happening during pre-industrial times are likely to occur five times more often.

"The direction is clear and in the future these kinds of heat waves are going to be normal and we will see even stronger extremes," World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said at a news briefing in Geneva, United Nations News reported.

In April, a landmark United Nations report warned that, if Earth is to stay below the dangerous global threshold of 1.5 C warming, countries will need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2025 and halve current emissions by 2030, a strategy that will require "rapid, deep and immediate" cuts to the quantities of greenhouse gases produced around the world. The report, which assessed multiple mitigation strategies for combating climate change, stated that even if all the carbon-cutting policies that were previously promised by governments had been fully implemented by 2020, the world would still warm by a disastrous 5.8 degrees F (3.2 degrees C), Live Science previously reported.

Originally published on Live Science.

In the midst of a scorching heatwave, a landfill in New Delhi, India has spontaneously combusted, pouring toxic smoke into the air for three days straight, according to ABC News.

This is no ordinary landfill. Per ABC, the dump is more of a garbage mountain, looming taller than a 17-story building and wider than 50 football fields. (So, a pile of trash more than 240 feet, or 73 meters, high and more than 15,000 feet, or 4,572 m, long). Video taken from a nearby highway and shared on Reddit on Tuesday (April 26) shows a towering inferno billowing toxic smoke into the air, while hordes of motorists stop traffic to take in the spectacle.

The fire reportedly began due to the spontaneous combustion of methane (CH4) — a potent greenhouse gas released by decaying organic matter, in addition to occurring naturally underground. (See Turkmenistan's "gates of hell" for an idea of what happens when natural methane catches fire.)

Related: Has the Earth ever been this hot before?

delhi_bypass_fire_in_garbage_mountain from r/delhi

When methane reaches a certain concentration, it may spontaneously explode in the presence of heat, studies have shown. Sadly, that means landfill fires like this one are a common occurrence.

"There's a fire every year," Bhairo Raj, a waste worker who lives next to the landfill, told ABC. "It is not new. There is risk to life and livelihood, but what do we do?" 

Three other landfills around New Delhi have also caught fire in recent weeks, ABC reported. The landfill where the most recent fire ignited was planned for closure more than a decade ago, but more than 2,300 tons (2,086 metric tons) of garbage are added to the trash heap every day, according to ABC.

These methane explosions were almost certainly triggered by the intense heat plaguing India in recent weeks. Last month was the hottest March recorded in India in more than 100 years, Al Jazeera reported, and April has offered no reprieve. On Friday (April 29), temperatures rose above 114 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) in multiple cities across the country, the India Meteorological Department reported.

Around the world, summer heatwaves have become both more common and more severe in recent years due to manmade climate change, Live Science previously reported. July 2021 was the hottest month in recorded history, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

Originally published on Live Science.

Both of Earth's polar regions recently experienced unprecedented simultaneous heat waves that caused temperatures to briefly skyrocket to never-before-seen heights in some areas. While experts say such extreme temperatures cannot be solely attributed to climate change, the unusual phenomenon is nonetheless "dramatic" and "alarming." 

In Antarctica on Friday (March 18), the average temperature was 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit (4.8 degrees Celsius) warmer than average, according to the Associated Press (AP). The highest recorded temperature was 44.6 F (7 C) at the coastal Zucchelli Station on Terra Nova Bay. The biggest temperature difference was recorded at Concordia Research Station, located more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level, where researchers measured a peak temperature of 10 F minus 12.2 C), which is 70 F (nearly 40 C) above the seasonal average at the station. Elsewhere, at the Russian Vostok Station — which in 1983 experienced the world's lowest recorded temperature at minus128.6 F ( minus 89.2 C)  — the temperature was 0 F (minus 17.7 C), beating the all-time highest temperature at Vostok by 27 F (15 C), according to AP. 

In the Arctic, the average temperature on the same day was 6 F (3.3 C) higher than normal, and in certain areas near the North Pole temperatures rose by 50 F (30 C) above normal, according to AP. Experts say that temperatures in Antarctica should already have returned to normal, The Washington Post reported on March 18, but it is unclear exactly when the high temperatures in the Arctic will break.

It is very uncommon to see high temperatures across both polar regions at the same time because they have contrasting seasons; as spring arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, the Arctic is just starting to thaw while Antarctica is beginning to freeze after months of summer melt. "You don't see the north and the south [poles] both melting at the same time," Walt Meier, a senior researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, told AP. "It's definitely an unusual occurrence."

Related: 10 signs that Earth's climate is off the rails 

Scientists are particularly surprised by the heat wave in Antarctica because temperatures there have remained more stable overall compared with the Arctic, which is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet, according to a report published in 2021 by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.

Antarctica's heat wave is most likely the result of an atmospheric river, a narrow corridor of water vapor that moves through the sky. Moisture likely moved over Antarctica and was then trapped by a "heat dome," or nearby high-pressure system, which locked the moisture in place for almost a week and heated up the air, according to The Washington Post.

"This moisture is the reason why the temperatures have gotten just so high," Jonathan Wille, a polar meteorologist at the Grenobles Alpes University in France, told The Washington Post. "This is not something we've seen before." It is likely that certain areas of Antarctica that do not usually melt may have experienced melting for the first time because of the heat wave, he added.

The heat wave in the Arctic is less surprising: A study published Dec. 6, 2021, in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, revealed that Arctic heat waves are becoming more frequent, long-lasting and widespread.

Individual extreme weather phenomena are difficult to attribute directly to climate change. However, experts predict that such events will become more frequent and extreme in the future if current greenhouse gas emissions are not drastically reduced. "The warming of the Arctic and Antarctic is cause for concern, and the increase in extreme weather events — of which these are an example — is a cause for concern as well," Michael Mann, a climatologist at The Pennsylvania State University, told The Guardian. "The models have done a good job projecting the overall warming, but we've argued that extreme events are exceeding model projections. These events drive home the urgency of action."

On Feb. 25, Antarctica's sea-ice extent — the surface area of the sea covered in ice — reached its lowest since records began in 1979, Live Science previously reported. 

Originally published on Live Science.

July 2021 was officially the hottest month in recorded history, according to new data released Friday (Aug. 13) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Last month, the combined land and ocean-surface temperature was 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit (0.93 degrees Celsius) higher than the 20th-century average, blowing past the previous July heat record tied in July 2016, July 2019 and July 2020. But July 2021 was not only the hottest July ever — it was also the single hottest month since record keeping began 142 years ago, NOAA found.

"In this case, first place is the worst place to be," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. "This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe."

The agency's report found that the Northern Hemisphere was particularly scorching, with land-surface temperatures measuring 2.77 F (1.54 C) above average — an "unprecedented" heat anomaly never seen before, according to the NOAA statement.

At least five heat domes descended on various parts of the hemisphere at once, resulting in consecutive days of stagnant, sweltering heat. Asia saw its hottest July on record (surpassing a previous record set in 2010), while Europe saw its second-hottest July (trailing behind July 2018). Record high temperatures were also recorded in Turkey, Japan, Ireland and many other jurisdictions.

These July records suggest that 2021 will almost certainly rank amongst the hottest years on record so far, NOAA added.

The first half of August already fits that prediction. On Wednesday (Aug. 11), a weather station on the Italian island of Sicily registered temperatures of 119.85 F (48.8 C) — the single hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe.

July is typically the hottest month of the year, but human activities are "unequivocally" driving climate change to ever higher extremes, a major report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday (Aug. 9). 

Levels of atmospheric heat-trapping CO2 are currently higher than they've been in 2 million years, leading to unprecedented warming. Beyond deadly heat, global warming is also resulting in record-setting wildfires, historic floods, baking droughts and overactive hurricane seasons, the IPCC report authors found.

Only by drastically — and quickly — reducing global greenhouse gas emissions can humans hope to limit the future impacts of global warming on Earth, the IPCC report concluded.

Originally published on Live Science.

Death Valley is more than earning its morbid name this weekend, as temperatures in the California desert reached a near-record-breaking 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius), according to news reports

That makes it a tie for the hottest temperature ever verified on Earth since the mercury hit 131 F (55 C) on July 7, 1931, in Kebili, Tunisia, The Washington Post reported. Though an even hotter temperature of 134 F (56.7 C) was recorded in Furnace Creek (then called Greenland Ranch) in Death Valley, on July 10, 1913, per Guinness World Records, some climate scientists say that reading was not verified, the Post said.

Rewind to nearly a year ago, on Aug. 16, Death Valley also smashed heat records with a 130-F reading, Live Science reported at the time.

Related: Hell on Earth: Take a photo tour of Death Valley

No stranger to extremes, Death Valley is one of the hottest and driest places on Earth due to the shape of the valley and its location relative to mountain ranges. For instance, as storms move inland from the Pacific Ocean, they pass over mountain ranges on the eastward trek; vapor-dense storm clouds hit the ranges, rise up and cool, leading to condensation and of course rain or snow. When the clouds reach the other side of the mountains, they have much less moisture, something called a dry rainshadow, according to the National Park Service (NPS). With four mountain ranges between Death Valley and the ocean, clouds tend to be parched by the time they reach the desert.

These mountain ranges also act as walls around the narrow Death Valley basin, which sits below sea level. When sunlight heats up the valley's dry surface, the radiation gets trapped by these steep "walls," the NPS said.

But Death Valley is not the only spot suffocating under a heat wave. Heat alerts will affect more than 30 million people in the western U.S. where triple-digit temperatures are forecast through the weekend, CNN reported.

The National Weather Service has issued "very high" heat alerts — meaning everyone in these areas faces health risk from the heat — for much of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, CNN reported.

The "oppressive heat wave" across the western U.S. is the result of a so-called heat dome, or a ridge of high pressure that's trapping hot air close to the surface while preventing any possible precipitation, the NWS said in an advisory.

"Widespread high temperatures of 110 [F] and above are forecast for the Southwest deserts as well as the central California valleys," the NWS said. "Highs in the 100s are likely across the Great Basin and into the upper 90s for the interior Pacific Northwest."

Some relief could be on the way, though. A cold front is moving south from Canada and could cool off Montana on Monday (July 12), the NWS said. And a pocket of cool air is moving east from the Pacific, and may provide a bit of relief to parts of northern California.

Originally published on Live Science.

If the melting power cables in Portland, Oregon, weren't enough of an indication, new satellite data confirms what many sweat-drenched Americans could have guessed: June 2021 was the single hottest June on record in North America.

The new data comes courtesy of the European Union's Copernicus program, which produced climate measurements from billions of observations taken by satellite, aircraft and weather stations around the globe. According to the program's new June 2021 report, last month was also the fourth-hottest June recorded worldwide and the second-warmest June recorded in Europe.

While human-induced climate change has been steadily bumping up average summer temperatures year after year (2020 tied 2016 for the planet's hottest year on record, Live Science previously reported), a weather anomaly also contributed to the broiling temperatures in North America. The month saw record heat waves blast the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, with stagnant air bearing down on densely populated cities, like Seattle and Portland, for several days in a row. The culprit was a dangerous weather phenomenon called an omega block, which is essentially a dome of hot air trapped in place by atmospheric currents.

Related: 10 Steamy signs that climate change is speeding up

On June 28, Seattle saw its hottest day ever — a scorching 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius), or roughly 34 F (19 C) above the normal highs this time of year, according to The Washington Post. Not to be snubbed by American exceptionalism, Canada recorded national all-time high-temperature records three days in a row, culminating with a 121 F (49 C) day in British Columbia on June 29.

These records are not surprising, however; scientists have long predicted that global warming will result in ever-rising temperatures around the world. But the extreme June heat waves shed light on a new concern: The high-temperature records set in North America didn't just surpass the old records; they utterly smashed them. During the heat waves, several cities in the U.S. and Canada saw temperatures rise more than 7 F (4 C) above previous records, Peter Stott, a climatologist at the U.K. Met Office, told the BBC — a far larger temperature increase than expected.

The data is "telling us that changes in average climate are leading to rapid escalation not just of extreme temperatures, but of extraordinarily extreme temperatures," Stott said.

Welcome to another Hot Climate Summer.

Originally published on Live Science.

The Northwestern United States and Pacific Canada are in the grips of a heat wave that the National Weather Service called "historic and dangerous" in a bulletin on Sunday (June 27). A weather anomaly called a "heat dome" is partially to blame.

In the last few days, multiple cities across Washington, Oregon, Northern California and British Columbia have seen scorching all-time heat records fall, including a reading of 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) in Seattle on Sunday (June 27) — the city's highest recorded temperature ever — and a high of 117 F (47 C) in Salem, Oregon, on the same day. In Portland, the city's streetcar system had to cancel service for the day because the power cables were melting in the heat.

Meanwhile, north of the Canadian border, the town of Lytton, British Columbia, recorded a high of 116 F (47 C) on Monday — the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere in Canada, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

While average summer temperatures are steadily increasing every year due to human-induced global warming (2020 tied 2016 for the planet's hottest year on record, Live Science previously reported), a meteorological anomaly is also partly to blame for the Pacific Northwest heat. Conflating high- and low-pressure systems have trapped the region in a so-called heat dome, according to CBS News — essentially, "a mountain of warm air" locked in place by undulations in the jet stream (a river of strong wind weaving high through the upper atmosphere), the news site reported.

In this case, the jet stream has trapped a ridge of high pressure (that's the heat dome) over the Pacific Northwest, creating a block in the atmosphere that prevents the weather system from moving on. Instead, the hot air in the high-pressure system pushes down over the region, creating a suffocating blanket of heat. As you can see in weather maps like this one, the wind patterns swirl around the heat block in the shape of the Greek letter Omega — giving systems like these the nickname "Omega blocks," according to CBS.

Fortunately, it seems that the worst is over for now, the National Weather Service reported on Tuesday (June 29), with "the stagnant upper-level high pressure in place over the region [beginning] to shift to the east over the next couple of days." The highest temperatures will likely fall in eastern Washington, Oregon and western Idaho for the next few days, the NWS added, and eventually move over Montana by Thursday (July 1). Excessive heat advisories remain in effect for much of the region.

Originally published on Live Science.

Temperatures in Death Valley, California, hit a scorching 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) Tuesday (June 15), short of the all-time record for this spot at the lowest elevation in North America but more than 10 degrees hotter than the average high temperature at this time of year.

The broiling temperatures were part of a broader heat wave across the American Southwest and West this week. On Tuesday, Denver reached a high of 101 F (38 C), the earliest in the year the temperature has topped 100 F (37.8 C) since 2013. The same day saw a sweltering 105 F (40.6 C) in Billings, Montana, a record for that date, and an all-time high of 107 F (41.7 C) in Sheridan, Wyoming, tying a previous state record. Salt Lake City also tied its highest temperature ever recorded, 107 F, on Tuesday. Southern California broke multiple heat records, with Palm Springs wilting under a high temperature of 119 F (48.3 C). Meanwhile, Phoenix, Arizona, tied its 1974 record temperature of 115 F (46.1 C).

Death Valley is known for its withering heat. The desert is situated below sea level but walled in by steep mountains, according to the National Park Service (NPS). Sunlight heats the dry desert floor, and the heat stays trapped by the surrounding rock and soil. The all-time highest air-temperature record in the world was set at Furnace Creek in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. On that day, Furnace Creek hit 134 F (57 C).

Related: Hell on Earth: Take a photo tour of Death Valley

Contributing to the current heat is a weather pattern known as a "heat dome." According to CNN, a ridge of high pressure over the western U.S. is trapping hot air close to the surface and also pushing away any potential precipitation. Sunny skies are also heating things up within the dome. And making matters worse, much of the West is currently in a deep drought. 

Drought means less moisture in the air and soil. When it's wetter, a significant fraction of solar energy goes to heating and evaporating this moisture, said Karen McKinnon, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. In drier times, this wet "heat sink" is missing, so temperatures are free to soar.

"All of that heat is coming in, but the soils are so dry," McKinnon told Live Science. "So more of that heat is going to go into increasing temperatures instead of evaporating water."

Though Death Valley is no stranger to high temperatures, average temperatures in June are typically closer to 110 F (43.3 C) than to 120 F (48.9 C), according to the NPS. The average high temperature there in July is 116 F (46.7 C).

Temperatures in Death Valley through Friday are expected to match or exceed Tuesday's high. An excessive heat warning is in place for much of California and Arizona through Saturday.

Originally published on Live Science.

California is having a record-breaking year of flames, as dozens of wildfires have set the state ablaze.

Wildfires have burned more than 2.2 million acres (8,903 square kilometers) across California this year, killing at least eight people and destroying more than 3,300 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). That's an area more than twice the size of Rhode Island. 

"This is crazy. We haven't even got into the October and November fire season and we've broken the all-time record," Cal Fire Capt. Richard Cordova told CNN. "It concerns us because we need to get these firefighters off these lines and get them breaks from battling these wildfires."

There are more than 14,000 firefighters working across the state to contain around 25 major fires. Most of the state is under a red flag warning today (Sept. 7) and into tomorrow (Sept. 8), meaning that conditions including strong, gusty winds and low humidity are ideal for wildfire strengthening and spread, according to Cal Fire. 

Related: Raging western wildfires in photos

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires in the state and across the globe, according to California Environmental Protection's Agency's Air Resources Board. The area that's burned by wildfires in California has been increasing in size each year since 1950, as temperatures climb, according to the Board. And more than a century of fire suppression practices have left many forests with plants prone to "exceedingly hot fires," according to Cal Fire

The Creek Fire that began burning on Friday (Aug. 4) evening, is 0% contained and has spread across 135,523 acres (548 square km) in the Big Creek drainage area between Shaver Lake, Big Creek and Huntington Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. The California Army National Guard had to evacuate more than 200 people who were trapped by the fast-moving fire at the Wagner Mammoth Pool campground, according to the government's Incident Information System. 

Yesterday, the Fresno Fire public information office wrote on Twitter that a military helicopter was trying to rescue people trapped by the fire near Lake Edison in the Sierra National Forest, but was unsuccessful due to heavy smoke conditions. But at least 13 people were rescued from the Sierra National Forest overnight, the Army National Guard Col. David Hall said on NBC's "Today" show.

A "pyrotechnic device," that generated smoke during a gender reveal party sparked the El Dorado Fire, which has burned 10,574 acres (42.79 square km) of land in Southern California's San Bernardino County and is currently 16% contained, according to a statement from Cal Fire. Lightning strikes caused most of the other fires, according to NPR. 

Some of the worst air quality in the world is currently plaguing the Golden State, with some regions recording "very unhealthy" and "hazardous" levels of smoky particulate matter in the air, according to the U.S. Air Quality Index. 

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service announced in a statement yesterday (Sep. 7), that it has temporarily closed eight national forests, including the Sierra and Sequoia National Forests due to the "threat of unprecedented and dangerous fire conditions" amid extreme heat, significant wind events, dry conditions and limited firefighting resources as teams tackle fires across the country.

California faced an immense heatwave on Labor Day weekend. Los Angeles County recorded its highest temperature ever at 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.4 degrees Celsius) on Sunday (Sep. 6), according to a tweet from the National Weather Service Los Angeles.

"The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously. Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire," Randy Moore, the Regional Forester for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, said in the Forest Service statement.

Originally published on Live Science.

Five years ago, tens of thousands of emaciated seabirds washed ashore on the Pacific Coast. Now, scientists know why: a long-lived marine heat wave known as "the blob."

The common murre (Uria aalge) is a black and white seabird that reaches about 1 foot (0.3 meters) long and can dive hundreds of meters deep into water in search of prey. These seabirds feast on tiny "forage fish" such as sardines, herring and anchovies, and need to consume about half of their body weight every day in order to survive.

But a couple of years ago, their feast disappeared. In 2013, surface waters began to heat up off the Pacific coast, a phenomenon that became known as "the blob." These warmer waters — the most powerful ocean heatwave that was ever recorded — continued until 2015. The waters warmed even further when a powerful El Niño — another ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that causes a period of warming sea surface temperatures — arrived in 2015 and 2016. 

Related: 5 Places Already Feeling the Effects of Climate Change

The warm waters spelled trouble for creatures both on land and in the water. A number of species experienced similar mass die-offs, including tufted puffins, sea lions, baleen whales and Cassin's auklets, according to a statement.

But no species died off quite at the level of these common murres. Between 2015 and 2016, 62,000 dead or dying common murres washed up on Pacific shores from California to Alaska. "So far, no evidence for anything other than starvation was found to explain this mass mortality," the researchers wrote in the study. What's more, previous studies revealed that only a fraction of the dead seabirds  wash up on shore. That means that the number of common murres that died likely reached about 1 million, they wrote.

"The magnitude and scale of this failure has no precedent," lead author John Piatt, a research biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center and an affiliate professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences said in the statement. "It was astonishing and alarming, and a red-flag warning about the tremendous impact sustained ocean warming can have on the marine ecosystem."

What's more, about two-thirds of the birds were killed as adults, which was a "substantial blow to breeding populations," the authors wrote in the paper. 

Previous studies had found that the blob reduced the number of phytoplankton in the water and increased the metabolism of cold-blooded critters such as zooplankton, small forage fish and larger predatory fish like salmon and pollock. 

That means that predatory fish — which compete for similar food as the murres — needed to eat more forage fish than usual to survive. The blob is now gone, but scientists recently identified another marine heatwave forming off the coast of Washington and up into the Gulf of Alaska, according to the statement. 

"All of this — as with the Cassin's auklet mass mortality and the tufted puffin mass mortality — demonstrates that a warmer ocean world is a very different environment and a very different coastal ecosystem for many marine species," Julia Parrish, a professor in the University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Science said in the statement. "Seabirds, as highly visible members of that system, are bellwethers of that change."

The findings were published Jan. 15 in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Originally published on Live Science.

Heat exhaustion is a medical condition caused by elevated body temperature. It's one of the most severe types of heat illnesses, surpassed only by heat stroke, as described in a chapter of Elsevier's online "Handbook of Clinical Neurology" (Elsevier B.V., 2019). All heat illnesses have the same cause: exposure to high temperatures, especially when humidity is also high, and particularly when a person's fluid intake is inadequate or they're exerting themselves.

Heat exhaustion is often characterized by profuse sweating, headache, dizziness and a weak, rapid heartbeat. The presence of certain additional signs and symptoms, such as nausea or vomiting, muscle cramps, fatigue or weakness, fainting, decreased urine output and cold, pale and clammy skin may also indicate heat exhaustion.

How is heat exhaustion treated?

Treating suspected heat exhaustion promptly is essential because it can be a precursor to heat stroke, a potentially fatal condition in which body temperature rises to 106 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) or higher, according to MedlinePlus. The mortality rate for heat stroke is around 10%, but even when not deadly, the condition can cause severe complications such as malfunctions in the central nervous system that can lead to seizures and rhabdomyolysis (the pathological breakdown of muscle tissue), which can cause kidney failure.

Progression from heat exhaustion to heat stroke is sometimes gradual, but may also occur suddenly; the condition won't go away on its own if the factors that caused it are still present — action needs to be taken to reduce body temperature, according to the Mayo Clinic. Moving to a cooler location, limiting physical activity, loosening or removing articles of clothing, taking a cool bath or shower, sipping cool beverages and applying cool, wet cloths to the skin may help. If a person is throwing up, symptoms are worsening, or symptoms have been present for more than one hour, medical attention is needed. If you suspect that someone is experiencing heat stroke, which is characterized by dizziness, nausea, headache, and a strong and rapid pulse, skin that's hot and red, confusion or loss of consciousness, call 911 immediately.

Who is at risk of heat exhaustion?

Anyone can get heat exhaustion, but certain populations are more at risk, including people who are elderly, very young or ill. Some medications, such as those that act on certain neurotransmitters (specifically, this applies to many antidopaminergic or anticholinergic medications, such as some psychiatric medications — ask your doctor if your medication falls into one of these categories) and those that increase fluid loss (such as diuretics), can also reduce the body's ability to regulate its temperature normally.

Heat exhaustion can be a recreational hazard, especially for athletes playing sports outdoors while wearing heat-trapping clothing and gear when temperatures are high, such as the case in American football. Small studies have aimed to design more breathable football uniforms, but heat-related illnesses in football players and other sports participants remain a concern. The risk of heat exhaustion may be elevated in "weekend warriors" who aren't conditioned to work out in hot weather, but even elite athletes can be affected by heat-related illnesses.

Travelers headed to hot destinations also need to be mindful of heat-related disorders. For example, cases of heat exhaustion spike in people undertaking the Hajj, Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, a pilgrimage that occurs during the hottest months often when temperatures are higher than average, as reported in the journal BioMed Research International. 

Even casual vacationers planning much less physically demanding trips can be at risk, especially if they aren't prepared with proper attire or if they're consuming alcoholic beverages, which can cause dehydration. High humidity raises the danger associated with high temperatures because it reduces the body's ability to cool itself via sweating, which is another aspect to consider before embarking on a tropical getaway.

For some, heat exhaustion is an occupational hazard; particularly for workers who are outdoors for long periods of time on hot days. In the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has issued an evidence-based reference for on-the-job exposure to high temperatures. For example, studies with sugarcane harvesters (including one in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine), and miners (including one in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine) have found heat exhaustion to be a serious risk for those occupations.

Heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion are also more likely to affect people of lower income, who may be more likely to work in dangerously hot environments or may be unable to afford air conditioning at home. In 2003, a heat wave in Western Europe caused an immense death toll, possibly exceeding 70,000 people, according to a study published in the journal Comptes Rendus Biologies. Half of those people died in their own homes.

Heat exhaustion and climate change

Because it contributes to an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including heat waves, climate change may increase the risk of heat exhaustion around the world, as an archived article by the Environmental Protection Agency explains. Climate change has already been linked to record-breaking heat waves around the world, exemplified by the recently reported all-time high temperatures in parts of Australia. 

But heat exhaustion is treatable and can often be prevented — so be sure to share this information with anyone who may be at risk.

Additional resources:

• Check out this helpful infographic for understanding the signs and symptoms of heat illness from the CDC. 
• Find out more about other types of heat illnesses from the University of Rochester Medical Center. 
• Pets can be vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, too — check out this resource from VCA Animal Hospitals.

This article is for informational purposes only, and is not meant to offer medical advice.

Extremely hot days can make pavements hot enough to cause second-degree burns within seconds.

That's according to a new study from a burn center in Nevada. A group of surgeons at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, identified 173 pavement-related burn cases between 2013 and 2017.

Twenty-four of those cases were due to motor vehicle accidents; the rest were due to various causes, such as falling to the ground. [Roasting? 8 Scientific Ways to Beat the Heat]

The team then looked at air temperatures on the days these burns occurred. More than 88% of pavement burns happened when temperatures were 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) or higher. The risk of burns increased exponentially as the air temperature increased.

"The pavement can be significantly hotter than the ambient temperature in direct sunlight and can cause second-degree burns within two seconds," lead author Dr. Jorge Vega, a surgeon at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, said in a statement. Second-degree burns damage the outer layer and part of the middle layer of the skin, causing blisters, redness and pain.

The pavement becomes much hotter than the air because it absorbs sunlight. On a 111 F (44 C) day, for example, the pavement could reach 147 F (64 C) if exposed to direct sunlight, according to the statement.

"Pavement burns account for significant burn-related injuries in the Southwestern United States and other hot climates with nearly continuous sunlight and daily maximum temperatures above 100°F," the authors wrote in the study.

And the Southwest isn’t the only region that faces such intense summer temperatures. Extreme heat waves recently cooked Paris to 108.7 F (42.6 C) and the United Kingdom to 101.7 F(38.7 C) — record-breaking temperatures for both countries.

The findings were published this year in the Journal of Burn Care & Research.

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Originally published on Live Science.

For the first time in recorded history, Anchorage, Alaska, reached 90 degrees F (32 degrees Celsius).

That sweltering temperature, recorded yesterday (July 4), meant that the normally snowbound city, which is just 370 miles (595 kilometers) from the Arctic Circle, was hotter than New York City. (NYC hit 85 F yesterday, according to timeanddate.com.)

The previous record-breaking temperature in Anchorage was 85 F (29 C), which occurred June 14, 1969, according to KTUU, an Anchorage broadcast station affiliated with NBC News. Yesterday's 90 F (32 C) was recorded at Merrill Field station in Anchorage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). [On Ice: Stunning Images of Canadian Arctic]

The cause of the sweltering weather in Alaska? An intense high-pressure system, which the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang termed a "heat dome," has parked itself over the region. The heat is not expected to let up for days, with the weather gang forecasting above-normal temperatures through July 8.

From a broader perspective, above-average temperatures in Alaska are partly due to a loss of sea ice in the Arctic and the concurrent ocean warming there, Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, told France's AFP in March. At the time, Alaska was experiencing two months of record-shattering temperatures.

Climate change is having disproportionate effects in the Arctic, which is heating up twice as fast as the rest of Earth, Live Science previously reported. That's because of a positive feedback loop there: Sea ice and snow reflect a lot of the sun's radiation back into the atmosphere. But as more of those reflective surfaces melt to reveal the darker (light-absorbing) water beneath, more heat gets locked into the water rather than bouncing back to space, making it hotter … and causing more melt and more warming.

• Images of Melt: Earth's Vanishing Ice
• The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted
• 8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World

Originally published on Live Science.

When I say, "how about that heat wave," perhaps you think of the western United States, where temperatures last week soared above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), smashing dozens of historical heat records from Oregon to Arizona.

Or maybe you think of India — where intense heat has scorched the country for more than a month, killing at least 36 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate their villages — or perhaps Kuwait, where local media recently reported high temperatures of 145 F (63 C), potentially the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

The point is, the Northern Hemisphere is really, really hot right now and summer has barely begun. If it seems like these record heat waves are happening more often, that's because they are — and, according to a new study published today (June 17) in the journal Nature Climate Change, this scorching trend will continue for most of the globe every single year as long as no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted]

In the new study, a team of Australian meteorologists analyzed the predictions in 22 separate climate reports to calculate one range of überpredictions about our planet's hot, hot future. The scientists found that, under current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, high monthly temperature records will be set in approximately 58% of the world (including 67% of the poorest nations) every single year until 2100. Nearly 10% of the world will also have at least one monthly temperature record "smashed" by more than 1.8 F (1 C) every year.

That's one possible future. However, the researchers found, if the world's nations substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 (a scenario that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls RCP2.6), the percentage of places on the planet setting new heat records every year drops to 14%.

"The impact of emissions reductions on the total number of monthly records set is stark," the authors wrote in the study.

For example, the team found, many nations near the equator can expect to see 24 monthly heat records surpassed every decade that emissions remain unchecked — in other words, roughly two months of every year will be hotter than in any year before it. Under the low-emissions model, that number drops to less than three records per decade.

"The benefits of reducing emissions, in terms of both reducing the pace at which high temperature records are set and restricting the magnitude by which records are broken, are very clear," the researchers wrote.

However, they cautioned, under the best-case scenario, it could still take decades for the rate of these monthly temperature extremes to start dropping. There's no way we're meeting that 2020 goal — but still, the sooner the world starts taking meaningful action against climate change, the better.

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Originally published on Live Science.

Neolithic Cursus

The rectangle cropmarks found near Clifton Reynes, Milton Keynes reveal two Neolithic cursus monuments that likely date to between 3600 and 3000 B.C. Though the monument to the left was recently found as part of another project, the one on the right was hidden under a headland that is now being ploughed. Archeologists aren't sure how ancient people used cursus monuments but guess that they may have been enclosed paths, processional ways or even boundaries between different landscapes.

Iron Age Round

This circular cropmark found in St. Ive, Cornwall probably comes from a roundhouse that dates back to England's Iron Age, between 800 B.C. and A.D. 43. These types of settlements, with a circular bank and outer ditch that contains one entrance and a round house close to the edge of the ditch, was common in Cornwall at that time.

Prehistoric Settlement

These cropmarks reveal a prehistoric settlement in Cornwall. This unusual layout consists of two concentric ditches with an entrance connected by two parallel ditches. The inner ditch could have enclosed a Bronze or Iron age settlement, whereas the outer ditch could have been used as a means to manage livestock later in history.

Square Barrows

In Yorkshire, the archaeologists found four cropmark squares that likely reveal ditches enclosing a burial mound. These Iron Age square barrows are common in this area.

Burial Mound

These circular cropmarks found in Scropton, Derbyshire likely depict a complicated structure from a Bronze age burial mound or a barrow.

Prehistoric Cemetery

These cropmarks found in Clare, Suffolk belong either to a prehistoric settlement or a cemetery. There is an entrance at the top left and two circles inside that could be ditches surrounding Iron Age round houses or Bronze Age burial mounds.

Roman Farm

In Bicton, Devon, archeologists found cropmarks likely depicting a Roman farm. The square in the center could have contained farm buildings surrounded by fields and paddocks.

Prehistoric Farm

These cropmarks found in Somerset, likely reveal prehistoric farms from the Bronze or Iron age.

Prehistoric Ditch

This circular cropmark found in Churchstanton, Somerset is probably a prehistoric enclosure surrounded by a thin ditch with an entrance at the top.

Intermingling Marks

To the right of a gatehouse built in 1557, there are cropmarks that mark where the grass is dying over another building, Tixall Hall, that was built in 1555. These marks are intermingled with others that depict the foundations of a partially-built hall demolished in 1926.

Ceremonial Landscape

This protected site, a prehistoric ceremonial landscape that dates back to around 4000 B.C. to 700 B.C. in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, has been known to exist for some time. But this new survey revealed some new, previously unknown features, such as a circle of pits.

Iron Age

The next series of images show how cropmarks form. This illustration is of a small Iron Age (800 B.C.- A.D. 42) settlement that consists of a circular house surrounded by a ditch with an internal bank. A timber fence or palisade surrounds the enclosure and there's a single entrance that leads to the house, around which is an eaves-drip gulley. The two four-post structures to the sides of the house are storage for grain or other agricultural produce.

Roman Period

This illustration depicts the same place, but many years later during the Roman period (A.D. 43 – A.D. 410) . The round house is now replaced by a rectangular, stone-built house with fencing throughout to divide the gardens, field and farmhouse. The ditch is slightly backfilled and grass has grown on it. The bank is lower and less steep.

21st Century

Now, in the 21st century, this same place is revealed through cropmarks. The dark green circles represent cropmarks forming over something missing beneath the ground like ditches. Archeologists looking at this in real sites would probably guess these dark green marks date back to the Iron Age and the inner enclosure represents a roundhouse while the outer represents a ditch. The rectangular cropmark is lighter, suggesting it's something solid like a building foundation. Archaeologists would guess that it appeared later on because one corner slightly cuts into the mark of the roundhouse.

Excavation

Now, archaeologists have begun an excavation at the same site. Here, they can really see the cropmarks. Above the ditches, the crops are taller, their roots are deeper and they ripen later than surrounding areas. The opposite is seen above the solid structures: the roots are shallower. Many roundhouses weren't surrounded by a gulley, which makes them more difficult to find via aerial photography.

This summer's unrelenting heat has helped to reveal hidden marks of ancient civilizations, including Neolithic monuments, Iron Age barrows, prehistoric settlements and ancient farms.

Archaeologists working with Historic England, a British historical preservation body, took to the skies to find hidden markings from past archaeological sites that typically become more apparent following dry soil conditions, according to a statement. These markings, called cropmarks, are outlines of buried structures.

"This spell of very hot weather has provided the perfect conditions for our aerial archaeologists to 'see beneath the soil,'" Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said in the statement. [Photos: Heat Wave Reveals Cropmarks from Ancient Civilizations in England]

Vegetation grows much differently over structures, such as stone walls, than it does over soil, which can contain ditches or holes. Over ditches, the crops can be taller, their roots can be deeper and they can ripen a bit later than those growing over surrounding areas. Whereas over solid structures, crops can be shorter, the roots shallower and they can ripen earlier than surrounding areas, according to the statement. That results in fields tattooed with various shapes that give archaeologists a glimpse underground without requiring a shovel.

Two recently found, and seemingly mundane, rectangular cropmarks, for example, probably mark Neolithic cursus monuments, or long straight enclosures, that date to between 3600 and 3000 B.C., according to the statement. Though one rectangle was recently mapped as part of another project by Historic England, the other was hidden until now. Archaeologists don't know the purpose of cursus monuments, but one guess is that they were ancient processional paths.

By examining the shapes and layout, the archaeologists can also make educated guesses about the age of the hidden monuments.

For example, in Devon, England, the researchers pinpointed cropmarks in a grass field that depicted a central enclosure surrounded by traces of paddocks and fields. These types of settlements were common in the Roman period (43 AD - 410AD), so the archaeologists suspect the farm is a relic of that time. Meanwhile, farms in Somerset each contained an oval feature in the center that may have been abandoned and eventually overlain by a rectangular settlement. These farms are typical of the Bronze Age (2500 BC - 800 BC) and the Iron Age (800 BC - 43 AD), according to the statement.

In the hills of Yorkshire, the archaeologists found four squares that were likely Iron Age burial sites. These square barrows were made up of a ditch surrounded by a burial mound.

Some of the findings are a bit more difficult to untangle. In Cornwall, for example, archaeologists saw what was most likely multiple settlement stacked above one another. Here, they found round cropmarks that likely date to the Iron Age — settlements that include a circular bank and an outer ditch most likely with a round house inside. But in the same place, they also found rectangles and two ditches and aren't sure if the two types of structures are related. The same field also contains a barrow, likely from the Bronze Age.

"It has been fascinating to see so many traces of our past graphically revealed," Wilson said in the statement.

Originally published on Live Science.

For the second year in a row, July in California's Death Valley National Park snagged the award for the "hottest month ever." Congratulations to this national treasure that is truly an unstoppable inferno.

The finding was first reported in Forbes magazine on Tuesday (July 31), in an article by Brian Brettschneider, a climate scientist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The World Meteorological Organization has yet to confirm Brettschneider's assessment, but considering the data, that group will likely agree.

While many of us sweated out (and probably complained about) temperatures of over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) last month across much of the U.S., Death Valley's Furnace Creek weather station recorded an average temperature of 108.1 degrees F (42.2 degrees C), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's temperature database, xmACIS2. To add to the misery, a whopping 21 days in July saw maximum temperatures of 120 degrees F (48.9 degrees C) or higher in Death Valley. While unusual, that stretch of days is, surprisingly, not a record for this area; 29 days in July 1917 reached temperatures of 120 degrees F (48.9 degrees C) or higher.

Death Valley is no stranger to extreme weather, thanks to the area's below-sea-level elevation and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which prevents rain from reaching the region. In fact, the all-time hottest temperature ever measured on Earth came on July 10, 1913, when Death Valley hit a sizzling 134 degrees F (56.7 degrees C).

But now, for the first time, Death Valley has broken the record for hottest monthly temperature anywhere in the world two years in a row. Last July, the average temperature was 107.4 degrees F (41.9 degrees C). Brettschneider predicts that this is a pattern and said record temperatures will routinely surpass these marks in coming years.

So, is this a result of climate change, or is it simply natural variability in an already-extreme landscape?

"I think it's a little bit of both," said Marshall Shepherd, a climate scientist at the University of Georgia. "Extreme heat is one of the things that we can pin down to climate change with a high degree of certainty," Shepherd told Live Science. But natural variability is still happening within this warming trend, he said.

Shepherd compared the situation to a baseball player who has a natural ability for hitting lots of home runs, "but then you add in steroids and you give him a boost." In other words, climate change is like a super-effective steroid for Death Valley's natural ability to turn into a scorching-hot furnace every summer.  

What's more, said Shepherd, when considering Death Valley's blistering heat in the context of record-high temperatures around the world this year, "it's clear to me that we cannot write off extreme heat events as natural chance anymore." 

Original article on Live Science.

Earth is boiling under record-high temperatures. Global heat waves have landed thousands of people in the hospital and fueled massive wildfires in places ranging from Greece to the Arctic Circle.

An animation called "earth" shows just how high worldwide temperatures really are. The animation, designed by computer programmer Cameron Beccario, an engineering manager at Indeed Tokyo in Japan, updates every 3 hours with weather data taken from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction's Global Forecast System. [What Is Earth's Average Temperature?]

The system uses supercomputers to create models of the weather from various measurements, like temperature, soil moisture, wind, ocean currents and precipitation, Live Science previously reported.

This week, the mesmerizing globe shines in shades of orange and red, which indicate hot temperatures.

A city outside Tokyo in Japan is facing scorching temperatures of almost 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41.1 degrees Celsius). At least 86 people have died of heatstroke there since May, and 23,000 people have been hospitalized just in the past week, The New York Times reported.

But Japan isn't the only country facing record temperatures. In Sweden, an extreme heat wave caused multiple wildfires to erupt last week — some in the Arctic Circle. Also last week, Greece faced deadly wildfires fueled by extreme temperatures and high winds, killing more than 80 people, The Washington Post reported.

Earlier this month, Ouargla, a city in Algeria, probably logged the highest temperature ever recorded in Africa: 124.3 degrees F (51.3 degrees C), according to the Post. And in June, Oman logged the hottest night in recorded history and the highest low temperature ever to be recorded on Earth: 108.7 degrees F (42.6 degrees C), according to the Post.

Extreme weather — such as the current global heat wave, strong hurricanes and long droughts — is more likely to occur now because of human-induced climate change, according to a previous Live Science report. A preliminary comparison of current temperatures with historical records from seven weather stations in Europe suggests that human-induced climate change made the Europe-wide heat wave more than twice as likely to happen, according to the BBC.

Originally published on Live Science.

An intense heat wave is fueling wildfires across an enormous swath of northern Europe, with at least 11 fires raging within the Arctic Circle, reported The Guardian.

Sweden is the worst-hit country, with at least 40 fires burning as of Wednesday, Time reported.

Multiple communities have been evacuated, and thousands of people have been directed to stay indoors with their vents and windows closed to avoid harmful smoke inhalation.

"This is definitely the worst year in recent times for forest fires," Mike Peacock, a university researcher and local resident, told The Guardian. "Whilst we get them every year, 2018 is shaping up to be excessive," he said. [Wildfires Blaze in Northern California (Photos)]

European officials have stated that the risk of more fires continues as long as temperatures stay above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) — and that such warm weather is in the forecast for the coming days. Several Arctic-area locations have experienced record-high temperatures this year. Helsinki hit 86 degrees F (30 degrees C) for the first time in eight years, and the northernmost city in Finland, Utsjoki, experienced an all-time record high this summer of 92 degrees F (33.3 degrees C), The Weather Channel reported.

Climate scientists have said that the Arctic and other areas that once experienced very little fire activity are becoming more vulnerable to wildfires, The Guardian reported.

"What we're seeing with this global heat wave is that these areas of fire susceptibility are now broadening, with the moors [open land] in northwest England and now these Swedish fires a consequence of that," Vincent Gauci, a professor of global climate change ecology at The Open University in the United Kingdom, told The Guardian. "When such carbon-dense ecosystems experience aridity and heat and there is a source of ignition — lightening or people — fires will happen," said Gauci.

Original article on Live Science.

More than 200 bats have lost their lives to southern Australia's ongoing heat wave.

As temperatures rose to 111.5 degrees Fahrenheit (44.2 degrees Celsius) in Campbelltown in the Australian state of New South Wales, a colony of flying fox bats that lives near the town's train station felt the effects. Volunteers struggled to rescue the heat-stricken bats, according to the Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser, but at least 204 individual animals, mostly babies, died.

"They basically boil," Kate Ryan, the colony manager for the Campbelltown bats, told the newspaper. "It affects their brain — their brain just fries and they become incoherent." [Watch for Falling Iguanas! Bomb Cyclone Drops Frozen Lizards]

Rescuers with Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown posted on their Facebook page details of the dire situation: "As the dead bodies were recovered and placed in a pile for a head count the numbers had reached 200 not including the many hundreds that were still left in trees being unreachable, sadly a few adults were also included in the body count. It was a long and heartbreaking afternoon..." 

Heat and more heat

The colony of flying foxes in Campbelltown belong to the species Pteropus poliocephalus, better known as the gray-headed flying fox. Their wingspans can stretch more than 3.3 feet (1 meter), and they can weigh more than 2.2 lbs. (1 kilogram). Important pollinators, the bats eat mainly nectar, pollen and fruit.

Temperatures higher than 86 degrees F (30 degrees C) can be dangerous to young flying foxes, Ryan told the Advertiser, because their bodies lose the ability to regulate their temperature. For the Campbelltown colony, a lack of both water and shade exacerbates the problem, she said.

Southern Australia's heat has reached far beyond 86 degrees F in the past several days. Most of New South Wales is experiencing a severe heat wave, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. On Jan. 6, a weather station in the Sydney suburb of Penrith recorded a reading of 116.78 degrees F (47.1 degrees C), the hottest in the Sydney metro area since 1939, when a nearby station recorded a temperature of 118.04 degrees F (47.8 C).

The most extreme heat is expected to abate in the coming days, though meteorologists said a lower-intensity heat wave will persist throughout much of the state of Queensland, northern New South Wales and southern Central Australia through at least Wednesday (Jan. 10).

Climate backdrop

Australia is no stranger to extreme heat, but climate change is tilting the odds toward more heat waves, said Gerald Meehl, the head of the climate change research section at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

"They're occurring under the framework of background temperatures being warmer, so a naturally occurring heat wave becomes more intense," Meehl told Live Science.  

In the first decade of the 21st century, there were two daily maximum temperature records set for every daily minimum temperature record, Meehl said. In other words, heat records outpaced cold records two to one. The ratio is only growing, Meehl said: In 2017, daily heat records outpaced daily cold records five to one.

"That's projected to continue to increase," Meehl said. Australia's current heat wave echoes a similar one the continent experienced in 2013. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, that summer set records for the warmest September to March, the hottest summer, the hottest month and the hottest day.

Original article on Live Science. 

By the end of this century, temperatures in South Asia — a region where about one-fifth of the world's population lives — could become too hot and humid for people to survive, according to a new study.

Climate change in Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could be so severe by the late 21st century that temperatures and humidity may exceed the upper levels of human survivability, scientists reported in a study published online Aug. 2 in the journal Science Advances. The hazard posed by such extreme conditions over a crescent-shaped region where 1.5 billion people live could have disastrous effects, the authors wrote. [The 8 Hottest Places on Earth]

"Most of these people rely on agriculture, and so they have to spend time outdoors that exposes them to natural temperatures," said the study's principal investigator, Elfatih Eltahir, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

These three factors —extremely high temperatures, hundreds of millions of poor people and the reality of having to work outside — combine to define a very acute level of vulnerability, Eltahir told Live Science. "That convergence is what we are bringing attention to," he said.

Just two years ago, the fifth deadliest heat wave in recorded history swept over large parts of India and Pakistan and claimed about 3,500 lives, the researchers wrote in the study.

The researchers used the best available data on climate that identifies variations in terrain and vegetation down to 10 square miles (25 square kilometers) and fed it into global circulation models to producedetailed computer simulations. The resulting predictions showed extremes in so-called wet-bulb temperaturesin South Asia (abbreviated as TW).

TW, first identified in a 2010 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a combined measure of temperature and humidity. Wet-bulb temperatures hotter than 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) — about the same temperature as human skin under warm conditions — make it impossible for the body to dissipate heat naturally.

"Human exposure to TW of around 35 degrees C for even a few hours will result in death even for the fittest of humans under shaded, well-ventilated conditions," the researchers wrote.

Although wet-bulb temperatures today typically do not go over88 degrees Fahrenheit(31 degrees C), they nearly reached the threshold of 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees C) in the summer of 2015, when an extreme heat wave hit Bandar Mahshahr, Iran, and parts of the Persian/Arabian Gulf, the authors wrote. In previous research, Eltahir and his colleagues predicted that this region, near and around the Persian/Arabian Gulf, would see some of the hottest wet-bulb temperatures in the world.

Although the hazard is high in this part of the Middle East, the region's vulnerability to such high temperatures is lower than in South Asia, Eltahir said. The hottest regions would occur mainly over the ocean. What’s more, not very much of the land in and around the area of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula is devoted to agriculture, fewer people live in this region than in South Asia, and they tend to be wealthier, he said.

But wet-bulb temperatures could pass the threshold in parts of northeastern India and most of Bangladesh during seasonal heat waves by the end of this century, the researchers said. In this latest study, the computer models predicted that the second-hottest wet-bulb temperatures would occur in South Asia. These scorching conditions would occur over land, where one-fifth of the world's population lives and where many more people are vulnerable because they are poor and work outside. When the 2015 heat wave hit India and Pakistan, it claimed the lives of 3,500 people.

"We think it's important for people to understand and appreciate what climate change can bring to their lives," Eltahir said.

Original article on Live Science.

Summers around the world are already warmer than they used to be, and they’re going to get dramatically hotter by century’s end if carbon pollution continues to rise. That problem will be felt most acutely in cities.

The world’s rapidly growing population coupled with the urban heat island effect — which can make cities up to 14°F (7.8°C) warmer than their leafy, rural counterparts —  add up to a recipe for dangerous and potentially deadly heat.

Currently, about 54 percent of the world’s population lives in cities, and by 2050 the urban population is expected to grow by 2.5 billion people. As those cities get hotter, weather patterns may shift and make extreme heat even more common. That will in turn threaten public health and the economy.

To illustrate just how hot cities’ future could be and the choices they face, Climate Central created the interactive below. It shows how the average summer high in the future in each of these cities compares to other cities of today. In some cases, the shift puts them in a completely new temperature zone.

Under the high-pollution scenario, currently mild Ottawa, Canada could have the tropical climate of Belize City by 2100. Mountainous Kabul, Afghanistan could feel like coastal Colombo, India. Already hot Cairo, Egypt could feel like its downright sweltering neighbor Abu Dhabi.

The average land temperature is projected to rise 8.6°F (4.8°C), but due to the vagaries of geography, some cities will warm much more. Sofia, Bulgaria has the biggest overall temperature shift, with temperatures rising nearly 15°F (8.4°C) by 2100. That would make its summers more like Port Said, Egypt.

Up to a dozen cities will heat up so much, their summers will have no analog currently on Earth. Khartoum, Sudan’s average summer temperature is projected to skyrocket to 111.4°F (44.1°C) if carbon pollution continues unchecked. That shift underscores that unless carbon pollution is curbed, the planet could be headed toward a state humans have never experienced.

Reducing carbon emissions still means temperatures will rise in cities (and everywhere else). In Khartoum, moderate cuts mean the city’s summer average high is projected to top out at 106.9°F (41.6°C), a high that is still hot (as hot as Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to be exact) but at least of-this-planet hot.

Dealing with less extreme heat makes adaptation easier and less expensive, and given that choice, perhaps it’s no surprise cities are leading the charge on climate change. They face the worst impacts of extreme heat and are home to billions. That’s why thousands of mayors from around the world have banded together and pledged to reduce their emissions. That includes multitudes of U.S. cities committing to meet the Paris Agreement goals after President Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. from the pact, and even more ambitious moves like Oslo’s pledge to nearly zero its emissions by 2030.

Climate Central's James Bronzan contributed data analysis for this story.

Original article on Climate Central.

Climate change is poised to affect the health of Americans in every part of the country, a new report says.  

The report, published today (March 15), comes from a new group made up of 11 medical organizations, including allergists, pediatricians, infectious-disease doctors, OB/GYNs and gerontologists.

"Doctors in every part of our country see that climate change is making Americans sicker," Dr. Mona Sarfaty, the director of the new group, called the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, said in a statement. [5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect Your Health]

But few Americans are aware of the impact climate change has on health, according to the report. Only about a third of Americans can name a specific way climate change affects people's health, according to the report.

In the report, the researchers identified the specific health effects from climate change that will affect each region of the U.S, and created a map to illustrate this. For example, the map shows that people in the Midwest will face an increasing risk of infectious diseases carried by ticks. Meanwhile, air pollution from a growing number of wildfires will increasingly affect the health of those on the Great Plains.

And while some groups of Americans — including children, student athletes, pregnant women, the elderly, people with chronic illnesses and allergies and the poor — have a higher risk of health problems from climate change than others, the report found that people in every region of the country will be affected. Here's how.

Direct health harms

Three aspects of climate change will directly harm peoples' health, according to the report.

Perhaps the most of obvious of the three is changing temperatures. "Climate change is causing more very hot days, greater humidity, and longer, hotter and more frequent heat waves," the authors wrote in the report. Extreme heat can cause deadly heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke, as well as make certain chronic conditions such as heart disease worse, according to the report.

Extreme heat can affect Americans in every region of the continental United States, as well as Alaska, according to the report. And it's not just people who spend a lot of time outdoors who are at risk: Young children, older adults and people taking certain medications are also at risk because they cannot regulate their body temperature as well, according to the report. [Roasting? 7 Scientific Ways to Beat the Heat]

Another direct health harm comes from extreme weather events, which are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change, according to the report. These include heavy downpours, floods, droughts and major storms.

Although extreme weather events threaten everyone in their path, they're particularly harmful for children, the elderly, the poor and the disabled, according to the report.

The Americans who face the greatest risk of these extreme weather events include those living in the Northeast, the Southeast, the Great Plains, the Southwest and Hawaii, according to the report.

The third direct health harm comes from air pollution. "Climate change reduces air quality because heat increases smog, wildfires and pollen production," the authors wrote.

The health risks from air pollution are a particular threat in the Southwest, the Great Plains, the Southeast and the Northeast, according to the report. And wildfires are a threat to those living in the Northwest, the Southwest and the Great Plains, according to the report.

Spreading disease

Other health effects of climate change are a little subtler; that is, you won't spot them in the weather forecast or see them as clearly as you might see a smoggy skyline.  

The increasing global average temperatures associated with climate change also contribute to the spread of infectious diseases, according to the report. As the weather warms, disease-carrying mosquitoes, ticks and fleas can survive in new regions that were previously too cold for them to inhabit, the authors wrote. Lyme-disease-carrying ticks, for example, are now found in 46 percent of all U.S. counties, compared with 30 percent in 1998, according to the report.

Other pests, such as the mosquitoes that carry viruses, including the West Nile virus and the virus that causes dengue fever, are also becoming more common in America, according to the report. The researchers noted that people in the Midwest are increasingly at risk of tick-borne infections, and people in the Southeast and Northeast are facing a growing risk of mosquito-borne infections.

Climate change can also lead to contaminated water, according to the report. Higher water temperatures, heavy downpours, rising sea levels and flooding can cause drinking water, recreational water, fish and shellfish to become contaminated with germs or chemicals, they wrote.

The contamination can stem from many sources, such as waste entering the water supply after a flood, or higher water temperatures leading to toxic algae blooms, the researchers wrote in the report. People living in the Midwest and the Southeast are at greater risk for water-related infections.

Foodborne illnesses are known to increase in the summer, because heat increases food contamination, and so climate change is expected to also increase foodborne illnesses in the U.S., the researchers wrote. For example, the heavy rainfall and flooding that are more common during warmer weather can spread more bacteria and viruses to farms where food is grown. And, warmer water temperatures can cause more germs and heavy metals to be found in seafood, they wrote. [Top 7 Germs in Food that Make You Sick]

People living in the Southwest and Midwest are at risk of an increase in food contamination with climate change, according to the report.

Threats to mental health and well-being

Climate change can also threaten people's mental health and well-being, the researchers wrote.

For example, extreme weather events can cause depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the report. Disasters are also linked to an increased risk of drug or alcohol abuse, the researchers added.

Another threat to well-being comes from the effects climate change can have on our food supply, according to the report. Higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been linked to lower levels of nutrients, such as minerals, in certain crops, the researchers wrote. In addition, higher temperatures can lead to food spoilage and drought can disrupt food production, and lead to generally worse levels of well-being, according to the report.

Every region in the continental U.S. is at risk of more mental health problems and threats to well-being  from climate change, according to the report. 

Originally published on Live Science.

ATLANTA — As climate change proceeds, there will be more extreme weather events, and these events pose a threat to people's health, experts say.

The annual number of natural disasters appears to be increasing around the world, said Dr. Mark Keim, an emergency-medicine physician and the founder of DisasterDoc LLC. These include, for example, not only weather- and water-related disasters, but also geological disasters, such as earthquakes, and biological disasters, such as pandemics.

Data from the past 50 years show that 41 percent of all global disasters are related to extreme weather or water events, Keim said here on Thursday (Feb. 16), at the Climate & Health Meeting, a gathering of experts from public health organizations, universities and advocacy groups that focused on the health impacts of climate change. [5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect Your Health]

Experts in climate change predict that extreme weather events will increase in either frequency or severity, and these events are a very serious public health burden, Keim told Live Science.

Extreme-weather events fall into three categories: high-precipitation disasters (such as hurricanes and tornadoes), low-precipitation disasters (heat, droughts and wildfires) and sea-level rise disasters, Keim said. High-precipitation and low-precipitation disasters are currently affecting the United States, he added.

High precipitation disasters

High-precipitation disasters, which include storms, floods and landslides, can kill people in a variety of ways, Keim said. People can die from falls, electrocutions (from downed power lines), drowning (for example, during a hurricane) or asphyxiation (in a landslide), Keim said. In the United States, more deaths occur during the clean-up phase of hurricanes than during the actual storms, he added.

Data show that among people with any type of severe injuries, 50 percent die immediately, and another 30 percent of severely injured people die within the first hour, Keim said. (These data apply to any type of severe injury, from car accidents to hurricanes, he said.)

That means that 80 percent of all deaths from severe injuries occur within 1 hour of the event, which is deemed "the golden hour," he said.

But during a disaster, with winds blowing or the earth shaking, it's nearly impossible to reach victims within that golden hour, Keim said. So if doctors and experts want to reduce the number of deaths, they need to take a different approach: prevention, Keim said.

Deaths from tornadoes, for example, have decreased tenfold over the past 30 years, thanks to improved communication about storms and education, he said. Improved forecasting and early warnings allow people to get out of the area, he added.  

Low-precipitation disasters

Low-precipitation disasters also threaten health, Keim said. These include heat waves, droughts and wildfires.

Kim Knowlton, an assistant clinical professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, who also spoke at the meeting, elaborated on the health risks posed by heat.

"There is a clear warming trend and that threatens health," Knowlton said. "Heat waves, which are extreme heat events that last several days, are the No. 1 cause of U.S. weather fatalities, on average, over the last 30 years," she said.

Extreme heat poses a problem because it disrupts the body's natural ability to regulate its temperature, Knowlton said. [Roasting? 7 Scientific Ways to Beat the Heat]

Normally, the body regulates its internal temperature via the heart and lungs, Knowlton said. When its hot out, the heart beats faster, we breathe faster and we sweat to cool off, she said. But in extreme heat, these functions can't rid the body of enough heat, and our internal temperature rises, she said.

This can lead to a range of heat-related illnesses, from mild ones, such as heat cramps and fatigue, to more serious ones, such as fainting and heat exhaustion, to severe ones, such as heat stroke, which is fatal in more than half of all cases, Knowlton said.

But extreme heat doesn't only kill people directly through heat-related illnesses. It can also increase the risk of death from heart disease, respiratory diseases, kidney diseases and other illnesses, because of its wider effects on the body, Knowlton said.

Many people are vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, Knowlton said. These include infants, children, the elderly, outdoor workers, athletes, people with medical conditions, pregnant women, the poor, the homeless and people who live in cities, she said.

In addition, certain drugs, such as blood pressure medications, antidepressants and allergy medications, make people more susceptible to heat, Knowlton said.

This means that people who are "already struggling to stay healthy will be more challenged as climate change and heat continues," she said. 

Originally published on Live Science.

The U.S. West is still baking. The temperatures for June are in and five Western states saw their warmest June ever (helping to make the month the second warmest June for the contiguous U.S.), and four continue to see their warmest year-to-date, just as 2015 hits the halfway mark.  

In drought-plagued California, “we’re beating the record set just last year” and “not by a razor thin margin,” Daniel Swain, a PhD student at Stanford University, said.

The huge area of considerable warmth in the Pacific Ocean that has been hanging around for two years now is one of the main drivers for the sultry western weather, and is getting a boost from the very healthy El Niño event that looks to be in place through the end of the year.

These forces are also acting on the background warming that results from the extra heat trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by ever-increasing greenhouse gas levels, which increases the odds for such high temperature records.

The heat spells bad news for the tenacious drought that is now in its fifth year in California, as well as newly expanded drought conditions in the Pacific Northwest, which saw a paltry winter snowpack during the balmy winter.

The latest temperature updates were released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rising Ocean Temps Bring Gloomy Outlook for Corals Summertime Blues? U.S. Seeing Red as Temps Rise Temps Marching Upward Since First Earth Day

In maps that show how much ocean temperatures differ from average, a huge chunk of the Pacific Ocean looks “like it’s on fire,” Swain said, with some areas in record-breaking territory. That mass of hot water has helped keep a ridge of high pressure locked in over the West, bringing with it higher temperatures.

The drought, which is in part caused by this pattern, as it blocks the storms that would provide rain, also helps reinforce the heat.

“The lack of precipitation and cloud cover drove temperatures upwards, as did the dry soils,” NOAA climatologist Jake Crouch said in an email. “Dry soils, especially in the summer, under cloud-free skies, allow daytime temperatures to soar.”

The most recent heat wave in June broke or tied 233 records across the West, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. While that scorcher elicited much attention, such acute heat waves haven’t been the main reason the West has stayed so warm, rather it has been the persistence of above-average temperatures day-in and day-out.

“It just really isn’t getting down to normal,” Swain said.

Because the ocean doesn’t change temperature as quickly as land does, the huge area of warm ocean is “not going to go away anytime soon,” Swain said, which means that it will continue to influence temperatures in the West through a good chunk of the rest of the year.

For the next few months, that means that the drought in the region is only likely to get worse, as higher temperatures mean increased evaporation and transpiration in plants. That’s particularly worrying going into the traditional peak of the fire season in early fall, when Santa Ana winds can rapidly spread wildfires on tinder-dry landscapes.

The hope is that the El Niño will bring relief come winter, as strong events have historically been associated with increased precipitation in parts of California, though it’s by no means a guarantee.

But by the time that happens, the year may nearly be at its end, and for California, at least, it could edge out last year as the warmest the state has ever seen in 120 years of record-keeping.

You May Also Like: EPA Bans a Gas That Once Helped Save the Ozone Layer Pope’s Climate Encyclical: 4 Main Points Summer Temperature Trends

The number of people dying because of heat waves could rise three to four times in some regions by the middle of this century, as a result of climate change and population growth, according to a new U.K. study.

Researchers analyzed the relationship between weather fluctuations and death rates in the past, and projected the results for the decades to come.

They found that by the 2050s, the number of heat-related deaths in England and Wales could surge by 3.5 times its current number, which is around 2,000 deaths yearly in these regions, according to the study published today (Feb. 3) in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. [Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming]

Exposure to hot weather can bring about hyperthermia, a condition in which a person's body absorbs more heat than it dissipates, resulting in dangerously high body temperatures that require medical attention.

Every year, about 650 Americans die from hyperthermia — a death toll greater than that of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The elderly and people with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of dying from hyperthermia.

Heat-related death tolls vary across countries, but scientists have warned that a growing number of people will be at risk for hyperthermia, as populations grow older and hot summer days become more common because of the rise in average global temperature.

In a previous study, researchers at Columbia University in New York found that the number of heat-related deaths in Manhattan could approximately double by the 2080s.

In the new study, the researchers based their calculations on the daily average temperatures in the U.K. for the years 2000 to 2009, and the projected temperatures for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s, derived from data from the British Atmospheric Data Centre.

According to these projections, the number of hot weather days in the U.K. is predicted to rise steeply, tripling in frequency by the mid-2080s, while the number of cold days is expected to fall at a slower pace, and reduce cold-related deaths by 2 percent, the researchers found.

Email Bahar Gholipour. Follow us @LiveScience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

As a heat wave ripples across the country, hitting the I-95 corridor this week, temperatures will continue to soar. Accompanying the intense heat is an impending danger, as 20 children have died of heat stroke from being left in cars so far this year in the United States.

Last year 33 children died, according to Jan Null, CCM at San Francisco University.

"This is still 33 too many," Null said. Despite being four less than the yearly average of 37 children heatstroke deaths, according to Null's research, typically, 52 percent of these deaths are due to a caregiver forgetting a child in a car, and thus many could be prevented.

The heating dynamics of cars are much different than those of other forms of transportation. The windows of a car act as a catalysts for rapid temperature increases inside the vehicle.

"There are a lot of windows in cars. These windows let in a lot of sunlight and when that sunlight is absorbed, it becomes trapped inside the car," AccuWeather Meteorologist Michael Pigott said. "The temperature inside the car can become twice that of the temperature outside."

Most people believe that the color of the car is the biggest factor in determining which cars heat up most rapidly, but it is actually the color of the car's interior that is the determining factor. Cars with dark interior, such as black leather, heat up the quickest.

Other parts of a car also aid in increasing the car's interior temperature, including the steering wheel and the dashboard. Due to their dark colors, steering wheels and dashboards can hit temperatures up to 200 degrees when sitting stationary in the sun. They then radiate their own heat and further heighten a car's temperature.

"When a child is left in a car, there is a 50/50 percent chance that they will be left on the sunny side of the car," Null said. This is especially dangerous because children, unlike adults, have not yet developed the ability to cool themselves off.

"Children heat up three to four times faster than adults," Null said.

RELATED: Summer's Worst Week of Heat NYC, DC, Philly, Boston Forecasted Heat Across the US Six Walking Tips for the Heat

Heat stroke, by clinical definition, occurs when the body reaches 104 degrees F. At 104, the body enters survival mode and stops perspiring. Only three degrees higher, at 107 degrees F, the body's cells start to die. This causes the internal organs to begin failing and death can occur soon after. These life-threatening temperatures can be reached quickly when one is stuck inside a car in the heat.

According to a study done by Null, recording the average temperature rise in a vehicle over time, a car's temperature can increase by 19 degrees in just 10 minutes. In one to two hours, the temperature inside a car can increase between 45 and 50 degrees.

"In the worst case scenario, if a child is small and on the sunny side of the car, death can occur in 15 minutes or under," Null said.

Pets, like children, have a lesser ability to cool themselves off compared to adult humans. Each year thousands of animals perish as a result of heat stroke when left in a vehicle. However, pets are better protected than children by today's legal system.

"There are more states with laws against leaving pets in the car than the 19 states with laws against leaving children in the car," Null said.

States with laws against leaving unattended children in cars include California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Before exiting your vehicle, be sure to double check your backseat for some precious cargo you may be leaving behind. To help keep children safe, see the tips below from Null.

How to help keep children safe:

1. If you see a child unattended in a vehicle, immediately call 911.

2. Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle.

3. If you are missing a child, first check the pool and your vehicle.

4. Give yourself a visual reminder that your child is the backseat. Put the child's teddy bear on the front seat, put your cell phone, purse or briefcase in the backseat; that way you are forced to remember.

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Midsummer heat will arrive just a few days after the unofficial start of the season.

After shivering cold over the Memorial Day weekend, starting Wednesday, record-challenging heat will blast into some areas of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, before spreading to the East later in the week.

While some people may welcome the heat, for a number of people it may be a little tough to adjust to after days of cool conditions.

Some locations will experience a 50- to 55-degree temperature rise compared to morning lows this past weekend to afternoon highs Wednesday to Friday.

High temperatures at or above 90 degrees are forecast on one or more days.

A few locations could have clouds and rain one day, followed by 90-degree temperatures and blazing sunshine the next.

In some cases, temperatures will challenge or break record highs during the period from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast.

Even areas that received accumulating snow in upstate New York and New England this past weekend will feel the heat.

RELATED: Photos: Memorial Day Weekend Snow in New England Plains Severe Weather Outbreak Wednesday-Thursday Could Bring Tornadoes Temperature Maps

The surge of heat will be preceded by a period of clouds, showers and thunderstorms in part of the region during the Tuesday to Wednesday time frame.

During the weekend, the heat will be chopped down over the Midwest by an advancing zone of thunderstorms associated with a cold front. The storms could be locally severe.

The cold front and storms would reach the Appalachians Saturday night and Sunday then the I-95 corridor Monday.

As a reminder, because of the slow spring in the region, water temperatures are still quite chilly at the beaches, lakes and unheated pools. The cold water can quickly bring on muscle cramps and increase the risk of drowning. Parents and guardians are urged to keep a close eye on their kids. Always swim with a companion.

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The only sure thing about weather forecasts is that they’re wildly different all over the planet. Test your knowledge on the wild ranges in temperature, precipitation and more.

Extreme Weather Facts: Quiz Yourself

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

As the Eastern half of the country cools off following warmth over the weekend, the Southwest corner of the nation will remain a focus for sweltering conditions.

Temperatures will soar above the century mark across most desert and interior valley locations from Southern California to Arizona into the weekend.

Some of the hottest locations, such as Death Valley, Calif., will top out above 105 degrees each afternoon through Tuesday!

A bubble of high pressure aloft is responsible for this first round of triple digit heat.

The already hot weather in place will persist into early this week, allowing for record highs to be threatened in Needles, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz., and Las Vegas, Nev. on Monday.

It hasn't reached 100 degrees in Phoenix since October 4, 2012, and the atmosphere is primed to do so this afternoon and again on Monday.

All people, but particularly those sensitive to the heat, should take it easy over the next few days, and stay well-hydrated if venturing outdoors during the peak of the heat.

Below is a list of forecasted highs on Monday with the record high for the date listed for selected cities:

The good news for residents who are sensitive to the extreme heat is that there will be a slight cool down by Wednesday and Thursday as a big cold shot dives through the Plains.

Temperatures by Wednesday will fall back into the 80s in Las vegas with lower 90s in Phoenix and middle 90s in Death Valley. These temperatures are much more typical of this time of year.

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Extreme Weather Facts: Quiz Yourself

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

A day after the mercury reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit in Melbourne, the extreme heat pushed into Sydney on Friday, leading to the hottest day on record for the capital of New South Wales.

The population of over 4.5 million suffered through the scorching heat that peaked at 114.4 degrees Fahrenheit (45.8 degrees Celsius) at the Observatory Hill. This broke the previous all time high of 113.5 degrees F (45.3 degrees C) set in 1939. The temperature rose even higher, reaching 115.5 degrees F (46.4 degrees C) at Sydney Airport.

The heat was followed by strong wind gusts over 50 mph that arrived during the evening hours along with some overnight rainfall.

Cooler weather is expected for the weekend along with the threat for a shower or thunderstorm each day.

The combination of sweltering heat and strong winds have led to numerous wildfires across both New South Wales and neighboring Victoria.

The first confirmed fatality from the wildfires was reported on Friday as a man was found burned to death in an automobile.

Firefighters battling the blazes have endured extreme heat making the the fight even more dangerous. Several firefighters have had to receive medical attention due to heat and exhaustion.

Some rainfall is expected from the weekend into early next week across portions of New South Wales and eastern Victoria, but amounts are not expected to be significant enough to dampen out wildfires which could rage in some areas for weeks.

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Extreme Weather Facts: Quiz Yourself

Uncommon sight

An unusual storm brought snow and chaos to the Middle East yesterday (Jan. 10).

The weather system dumped 4-6 inches (10-15 centimeters) of snow on Jerusalem Wednesday night (Jan. 9) and yesterday morning, according to Jason Samenow, chief meteorologist with the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang. The same system was responsible for heavy rain and scattered flooding, before the rain turned to snow, Samenow told OurAmazingPlanet.

[Full Story: How a Rare Snowfall Hit Jerusalem, Middle East]

Eerie view

The moon and stars may hog all the glory, but they're not the only light in the sky at night. The air itself glows from chemical reactions between oxygen and nitrogen and other molecules in the atmosphere.

The Suomi NPP satellite caught a massive thunderstorm making waves in the nightglow above Texas and Oklahoma on April 15, 2012. While nightglow is a well-known phenomenon, scientists were surprised at Suomi NPP's ability to detect it, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. During the satellite's check-out procedures, scientists thought this light source was a problem with the sensor until they realized that they were seeing the faintest light in the darkness of night, the Earth Observatory reported.

[Full Story: Amazing Image: Eerie Nightglow Over Texas]

Unprecedented heat

It is getting hot Down Under. And it's only going to get worse before it's over.

Australia and Tasmania, where it is currently summer, are in the midst of a horrendous heat wave. Yesterday (Jan. 7), the average temperature throughout the country broke a 40-year-old record, reaching 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.3 degrees Celsius), according to the Guardian. One area in the country's south hit 119 F (48.3 C) this weekend, AccuWeather reports.

[Full Story: Australia Sizzles in Unprecedented Heat Wave]

First footage

The notoriously elusive giant squid has been filmed for possibly the first time in its natural habitat after a Moby Dick-style hunt for the deep-sea beast.

A Japanese-led team filmed the silvery cephalopod last year off the Ogasawara Islands, about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tokyo, according to news reports. The footage is to be broadcast in the United States this month.

[Full Story: Mysterious Giant Squid Finally Caught on Film]

Hopes confirmed

The existence of a 9,000-strong colony of emperor penguins in East Antarctica has been confirmed by three people who visited it for the first time.

Signs of the penguins were spotted by satellite, which took images of large stains on the snow in 2009 that scientists suspected were penguin feces. But it wasn't until early December 2012 that three people from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctica polar research station visited the colony to glimpse the penguins for themselves, according to a statement from the International Polar Foundation, which runs the station.

[Full Story: Humans Visit Huge Penguin Colony for First Time]

Protect and enjoy

Pinnacles National Monument in California was signed into law as the United States' 59th and newest national park, now bearing the name Pinnacles National Park.

The new park, with its spectacular rock formations, beautiful spring wildflowers and group of endangered condors, is a popular tourist attraction, located in the Gabilan Mountains east of central California's Salinas Valley, according to a statement from the Department of the Interior. The park encompasses 27,000 acres of wild lands.

[Full Story: America's Newest National Park Declared]

History revived

On this day (Jan. 11) in 1853, a Union warship was sunk in a skirmish with a Confederate vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

Exactly 150 years later, a new 3D map of the USS Hatteras has been released that shows what the remains of the warship look like. The Hatteras rests on the ocean floor about 20 miles (32 kilometers) off Galveston, Texas, according to a release from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which helped to sponsor the expedition to map the shipwreck.

[Full Story: New 3D Map of Civil War Shipwreck Released ]

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

Tasmania has borne the brunt of fires sparked by a severe heat wave that has spread over much of Australia since the first of the year.

Temperature records have been broken in four of Australia's seven states as readings soared well above 100 degrees.

Forecasters are warning of continued widespread heat in Australia well into this week.

More than 100 people are missing and more than 100 properties have been destroyed in Tasmania, where more than 40 bushfires were burning, the Australian ABC News website said on Sunday.

Fires were also kindled on the mainland Friday amid severe heat and gusty wind, and some were still burning out of control in the state of Victoria as of Saturday.

Weather record books for Tasmania will have to be rewritten following the highest temperatures in more than 100 years.

Friday, Hobart registered 41.8 degrees C (107.2 F), shattering the old high mark of 40.8, set on Jan. 4, 1976, data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) showed. Record keeping began in Hobart in 1882.

The Hobart airport also set a record high, being 40.3 degrees C, or 104.5 degrees F. The normal high is only 21.6 degrees C, or 71 degrees F.

Orford and Bushy Park, also in southeastern Tasmania, also set high temperature records, the BoM website showed.

Meanwhile, the southern cities of Melbourne and Adelaide got a respite, following Friday's searing winds, thanks to onshore flow.

Adelaide city topped at 45 degrees C, or 113 F, Friday. While the South Australia state capital high was not a record, the nearby airport's maximum of 44.1 degrees C was, if by only 0.1 of a degree.

Elsewhere in South Australia, temperatures Friday and Saturday rose as high as 48.3 degrees C (119 F), the hop spot honors going to Marree.

Oodnadatta, holder of the Australian national high of 50.7 degrees C (123.3 F) could "only" muster a high mark of 47.8 degrees C (118 F) on Sunday, its hottest day.

In the Melbourne area of Victoria, Friday topped at about 40 to 42 degrees C, or 104 to 108 degrees F, ahead of Saturday's welcome "cool change," which blew in from the Southern Ocean. But temperatures reached 45 degrees C (113 F) for a second straight day in northwestern Victoria.

Western Australia, a vast state taking up nearly the western half of the continent, was the breeding ground for the huge mass of hot air, beginning in the last week of December. The heat then broke out to the east after the start of new year.

New record highs were set at Eyre (47.7 degrees C on the 2nd) and Eucla (47.9 degrees on the 3rd), data from BoM website indicated.

Sunday, severe heat was centered well inland, but was poised to take another swipe at Australia's biggest population centers.

Both Adelaide and Melbourne will heat up Monday, but less so than last Friday.

However, Sydney, which ducked last week's hot blast, will get a withering shot of heat on Tuesday, when readings will spike to about 42-43 degrees C (108-110 degrees F).

In Tasmania, meanwhile, the fight to contain fires continued on Sunday. Authorities warned that the lack of rain for the coming week could bring worsening fire conditions, ABC News said.

Up to 2,000 people were stranded on the Tasman Peninsula after roads were cut by fire. The peninsula was also without power, following burning of about 300 poles, according to ABC.

Most destructive of the island state's fires started at Forcett, east of Hobart.

See Also:

Photos: Surviving Australia's Heat http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-surviving-australias-he/3690339

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The only sure thing about weather forecasts is that they’re wildly different all over the planet. Test your knowledge on the wild ranges in temperature, precipitation and more.

Extreme Weather Facts: Quiz Yourself

From unprecedented drought to killer cold, 2012 was a year of weather extremes.

In 2012, the United States suffered 11 weather-related events that cost $1 billion apiece, according to a preliminary list released Thursday (Dec. 20) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Economic losses for Hurricane Sandy and the yearlong drought are still being calculated, but NOAA estimates 2012 will surpass 2011 in terms of aggregate costs for disasters (exceeding $60 billion).

Severe weather disasters hit beyond the United States, too, as super typhoons slammed into Asia and a cold snap froze Europe's rivers. Globally, countries battled heat waves and droughts.

The World Meteorological Organization projects 2012 to be the warmest year on record since 1850, even with the cooling effects of La Niña in the early months. And 2013 could be even hotter, the WMO estimates.

Cold lows and hot highs

Winter's extremes included January's record snowfall in Alaska, which hit as the rest of the country sauntered around in T-shirts. In February, Europe suffered through a cold snap that killed hundreds of people and froze the continent's rivers and canals, interrupting commerce.

An early, April start to tornado season raised fears of another devastating series of twisters, as happened in 2011. But this year, the funnels fizzled out. In the end, 2012 may go down as the year with the fewest tornadoes on record.

The combination of an ongoing drought and a crippling heat wave throughout the summer had lethal effects on people, animals and crops. Nebraska experienced its driest year since record keeping started more than a century ago, according to NOAA. Colorado suffered its worst fire season in more than a decade, with western wildfires charring 9.15 million acres (37,000 square kilometers) as of November, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. [2012: A Year of Weather Extremes]

Super storms

But 2012 may ultimately stand out in the history books mostly due to its continent-sized storms, which relentlessly pounded coastlines in the Atlantic and the Pacific.

In Asia, super typhoons swept across Korea, China and Japan like cars on a train, one after another, causing record flooding. Even into December, Super Typhoon Bopha destroyed homes in the Philippines, claiming more than 1,000 lives.

The Atlantic hurricane season produced 19 named storms, well above the yearly average of 12, according to a statement from NOAA. Two tropical storms, Alberto and Beryl, developed in Maybefore the season even officially began.

However, 2012 was the seventh consecutive year that no major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5) hit the United States. But Hurricane Sandy showed it doesn't take a big hurricane to make a major impact. [Hurricane Sandy: Photos of a Frankenstorm]

Sandy, which was a post-tropical cyclone when it made landfall, will go down in the record books as the second-costliest storm in U.S. history. Its tremendous storm surge, coupled with a high tide, wreaked havoc along the New Jersey and New York coastlines. Sandy registered the lowest barometric pressure in the history of the Northeast.

A higher number of named storms and hurricanes than predicted hit the Atlantic basin, in large part because El Niño, which likely would have suppressed overall storm activity, never materialized as anticipated by many climate models, NOAA said in a statement.

Yet several storms this year went largely unnoticed because they stayed out over the Atlantic. A persistent jet stream pattern over the eastern portion of the country helped steer many of this season's storms away from the United States, according to NOAA.

Outlook for 2013

Instead of El Niño, NOAA predicts that the neutral phase of the El Niño/ La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index will prevail through spring. Jokingly called "La Nada," it is the middle ground between El Niño and La Niña (the pattern associated with cool water in the equatorial Pacific).

The lack of a reliable weather pattern to hang a prediction on makes forecasting harder. The temperature outlook through March indicates above-normal temperatures for the southern half of the continental United States, except for coastal southern California, Florida and part of the southeast coast, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.

The center also predicts colder-than-normal temperatures in the northern Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains and southern Alaska.

Reach Becky Oskin at boskin@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @beckyoskin. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

A year of extremes

2012 was a year of weather extremes. From frozen canals in Venice to the fewest tornadoes since 1950, OurAmazingPlanet counts down the highs and lows of this year's wildest weather, starting in January and moving chronologically.

Alaska buried by snow

2012 opened with jaw-dropping blizzards in Alaska, burying towns in record-breaking snow. Nearly 7 feet (2.1 meters) of snow fell in Anchorage by January, double what the state's capital city usually receives by that date.

The wintry weather also created a conundrum for the northern town of Nome. A massive storm swept their final winter fuel shipment out to sea, requiring a Coast Guard icebreaker to guidea Russian fuel tanker into shore to deliver enough fuel for the frigid months ahead.

Europe's deep freeze

A climate pattern straight out of a cold war novel kept Europeans shivering in February. Called a "Russian Winter," the intense cold and snow froze stretches of the Danube River and even stilled Venice's famous canals. Hundreds died across the continent from exposure.

Tornado in Italy

A tornado swept across Italy's historic island city of Venice on June 12, leaving a trail of twisted debris and a shaken populace in its wake.The tornado, or "tromba d'aria" (trumpet of the air) in Italian, ripped roofs from houses, uprooted trees and left boats piled in a jumble, according to local media reports.

Derecho windstorm sweeps across the U.S.

A destructive derecho a rare, powerful, and long-reaching windstorm that accompanies lines of thunderstorms swept from the Midwest to the East Coast on June 29.

The storm downed power lines and toppled trees from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Damage surveys uncovered wind speeds of 100 mph (160 kph) in Zanesville, Ohio, and Preston County, W. Va. equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.

Extreme drought and heat in the U.S.

2012 will likely be the hottest year on record in the United States, and daily temperature records melted across the country as heat waves and drought gripped the nation. In June alone, 164 all-time high temperature records were tied or broken, according to government records.

With extreme heat comes drought, and in July, just under 56 percent of the country was experiencing drought conditions, a record. In August, 39 percent of the nation suffered from severe to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with two-thirds of the contiguous states experiencing some level of drought. The 2012 drought was the worst observed since the U.S. Drought Monitor began operating in 2000.

Colorado wildfires

Wildfires raged through Colorado and throughout the Southwest earlier this summer, before shifting west and north to hit Washington, Montana and Idaho.

The 2012 wildfire season is on track to come in second to the U.S. record for the largest area burned, with 9.15 million acres charred as of November, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The record was set in 2006, when more than 9.5 million acres (35,600 square kilometers) were torched.

2012 also earns notice for the most acres burned per fire: This year saw the fewest fires on record, 55,505 through November, but they were larger in size, according to the Fire Center.

Tornadoes disappear

Tornado season kicked off early this year, with more twisters by mid-April than ever seen since records began in 1950. After May, though, the number of tornadoes dropped off to a historic low. So far this year the United States has had only 888 tornadoes; last year, there were 1,691, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Barring a meteorologically implausible flurry of tornadoes in the next week, 2012 could set the record for the fewest tornadoes.

Super typhoons hit Asia

The United States wasn't the only country to suffer from superstorms this year. Three major typhoons socked the Korean Peninsula in August and September, producing widespread torrential rains and flooding. In July, Beijing saw its heaviest rainfall in 61 years when Typhoon Vicente slammed the capital. In August, twin typhoons came ashore one right after the other in China. As late as December, Super Typhoon Bopha wreaked havoc in the Philippines, killing more than 1,000 people.

Hurricane Sandy

through the Caribbean and up the East Coast of the United States in late October 2012. The storm left dozens dead, thousands homeless and millions without power.

Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the United States about 8 p.m. EDT Oct. 29, striking near Atlantic City, N.J., with winds of 80 mph (129 kph). A full moon made high tides 20 percent higher than normal and amplified Sandy's storm surge. Streets were flooded, trees and power lines knocked down and the city's famed boardwalk was ripped apart.

Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the United States, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.

Heat waves. Drought. Storms. The extreme weather that has battered much of the planet in the past few years, up through the heat wave cooking most of the United States this summer, has more scientists thinking about extreme solutions to the climate crisis.

Geoengineering – making large-scale changes to the environment – is no longer fringe science, with the debate shifting from whether it should be done to how.

One controversial idea gaining traction among scientists is injecting small particles, known as aerosols, into the stratosphere to block the sun's radiation.

Aerosols reflect solar radiation back into space, lowering Earth surface temperatures. They can also provide "seeds" around which water droplets coalesce to form clouds, thus further increasing the planet's reflectivity. The particles are fairly long-lived in the stratosphere, a stable region of the atmosphere that begins five to six miles up. This makes the idea of aerosols' use as a worldwide planet-cooler fairly attractive.

The effects of aerosol injections are at least somewhat known, since volcanic eruptions produce aerosols naturally and have produced cooling in the past. Mount Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines that erupted in 1991, spewed so much sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere that the planet cooled by 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.55 degrees Celsius) and stayed cool for more than two years.

Skeptics of the idea, however, say it's one thing when a volcano erupts; imitating nature would be another thing entirely. While Pinatubo-like amounts of sulfur (roughly 20 million tons) pumped into the atmosphere could linger three to four years, cooling the planet within the first months, reversing sea ice melt, and possibly even promoting tree growth, the side effects are uncertain. A 2009 paper found that stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could lead to drought in Africa and Asia and deplete the ozone layer, and it would not stop ocean acidification.

A miscalculation in the injections could be a costly mistake, ushering in a new ice age. And if scientists were to stop regular injections without cleaning up the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the rebound effect could be worse for crops, animals and ecosystems than if they had done nothing. [Could Space Mirrors Stop Global Warming?]

Beyond that, critics say, regular aerosol injections would change the sky's color, ruin astronomy for optical telescopes on Earth, and remove the incentive for nations to clean up their own acts. And in a final act of irony, with less sunlight reaching the Earth's surface, solar panels would produce less power.

Despite these potential drawbacks, research continues. A group of Cambridge scientists recently published a study of the proposed options for getting the aerosols to the stratosphere. (The report favored using a large tethered balloon with a hose attached to a high-pressure pump.) A study in mid-2012 found that the sky would look no different post-geoengineering than it currently does in urban areas, which have higher levels of aerosols due to pollution. And many scientists have concluded that aerosol injection is the most effective, most timely and cheapest solution to warming that has been proposed thus far, costing about $50 billion per year.

However, until scientists know more about the potential side effects of geoengineering through tests (as opposed to computer models), it's not likely to happen. A 2010 government report found only one field experiment related to aerosols and noted that the U.S. spent only about $2 million over two years investigating solar radiation management techniques.

The problem? Testing large-scale climate engineering techniques in the field requires large-scale tests in the field. In the words of climate change scientist Mike Hulme, writing in Progress in Physical Geography: "Research and deployment become one and the same." To test the technology, it has to be put into effect  –  and the consequences of that are still largely unknown.

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Researchers have long known that heat waves kill more people than other weather-related disasters do. And amid the hottest year on record and a scorching summer in the United States comes new research warning just how deadly heat waves can be.

Unlike a tornado or hurricane, a heat wave's impact on human lives is usually not realized until much later. An estimated 70,000 people died when parts of Europe boiled in the summer of 2003, according to a history of that heat wave being compiled by Richard Keller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In contrast, the death toll from 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, was 1,836.

During the 2003 heat wave, a huge high-pressure system hung over Europe for three weeks in August, sending temperatures higher than they had climbed in hundreds of years. Electrical cables melted, water pumps failed, museum specimens liquefied and nuclear technicians had trouble keeping reactors cool. But the extent of the human toll was first detected by undertakers, who were being overwhelmed with unclaimed bodies. In Paris, some of the corpses had to be kept in a warehouse outside the city when mortuaries were full, according to Keller.

"Measured by mortality, it was the worst natural disaster in contemporary France," Keller said in a statement.

In Paris alone, nearly 15,000 people were killed by the suffocating heat. Most of those victims were elderly women living alone in the top floors of poorly ventilated walk-up apartments, Keller found.

"People who lived in these apartments died like flies," he said. "This was as much a social as a health and epidemiological disaster. There were social factors that made some people much more vulnerable."

The elderly are often at high risk in a heat wave because they might not notice the effects of dehydration, and certain medications — like ones to treat Parkinson's disease — can exacerbate the effects of extreme heat. But in his research, Keller found that people who lived alone had the greatest risk of dying in a heat wave.

"We have to recognize that heat kills far more people than the cold and that those most likely to die are people on the social margins of society," Keller said in a statement.