Firefighters in Phoenix provide treatment for a resident having trouble breathing on day when temperatures reached 119F (48C). The city has endured a record-setting streak of days above 110F this month.
Photographer: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg
An Overheating Planet Requires Extreme Climate Solutions
Heat is accelerating faster than attempts to counteract it. Here’s how experts at eliminating carbon pollution think we can catch up — and cool down.
First came the hottest June in recorded history. Now it’s the hottest-ever July. This year is already highly likely to replace 2016 atop the heat ranking. Scientists suspect the last several years have been warmer than any point in more than 125,000 years.
This acceleration of heat is the result of burning enough fossil fuel to raise global average temperatures about 1.2C since the Industrial Revolution. And we’re not yet halfway to Peak Heat.