Tens of millions were battling dangerously high temperatures in the United States on Saturday as record heat forecasts hung over Europe and Japan, in the latest example of the threat from global warming.
Tens of millions were battling dangerously high temperatures in the United States on Saturday as record heat forecasts hung over Europe and Japan, in the latest example of the threat from global warming.
A powerful heatwave stretching from California to Texas was expected to peak as the US National Weather Service warned of an “extremely hot and dangerous weekend”.
Daytime highs were forecast to range between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in the west.
In Arizona, one of the hardest-hit states, residents face a daily endurance marathon against the sun.
State capital Phoenix recorded 16 straight days above 43 degrees Celsius, with temperatures hitting 44C on Saturday en route to an expected 46C.
California’s Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, is also likely to register new peaks on Sunday, with the mercury possibly rising to 54C.
Temperatures had already reached 48C by midday on Saturday and even overnight lows could exceed 38C.
Authorities have been sounding the alarm, advising people to avoid outdoor activities in the daytime and to be wary of dehydration.
At a construction site outside Houston, Texas, a 28-year-old worker who gave his name only as Juan helped complete a wall in the blazing heat.
“Just when I take a drink of water, I get dizzy, I want to vomit because of the heat,” he told AFP.
The Las Vegas weather service warned that assuming high temperatures naturally come with the area’s desert climate was “a DANGEROUS mindset! This heatwave is NOT typical desert heat”.
