Since March, Mexico has witnessed at least 125 deaths due to extreme heat, with thousands more suffering from heatstroke. On June 13th, temperatures in Mexico soared close to 52 degrees Celsius, marking the highest ever recorded in the country.
Simultaneously, the United States has been grappling with scorching heat, as expansive high-pressure systems persist over states like Texas, Arizona, and Nevada, subjecting tens of millions to record-breaking hot weather.
Friederike Otto, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, highlighted that the increasing lethality of heatwaves isn’t surprising. This threat has long been recognized, but due to persistent influence from the fossil fuel industry on politicians, global warming continues unabated with massive carbon emissions.
Otto participated in a study by the World Weather Attribution group, which warned that human-induced global warming has increased the likelihood of deadly heatwave events in the US and Mexico by 35 times.
The study also found that extreme heat events are now four times more likely than in the millennium period, despite surface temperatures being 0.5 degrees Celsius lower then. Otto emphasized the urgent need for meaningful political action to curb fossil fuel use; otherwise, deadly heatwaves will become increasingly common globally.
May 2024 was already the hottest May on record globally, marking the 12th consecutive month of record-breaking average temperatures.
Extreme heat exacerbates issues like droughts and air pollution, triggering events such as power outages, water shortages, and extensive wildfires, resulting in the deaths of thousands of wildlife and poultry. Furthermore, high temperatures elevate the incidence of cardiovascular, respiratory, and kidney diseases among humans, posing a severe health crisis.
The World Weather Attribution group observed that daytime temperatures during the hottest five days of May and June in North and Central America were 1.4 degrees Celsius higher than previous norms, with nighttime temperatures affected even more, being approximately 1.6 degrees Celsius higher.
Experts highlight that hot nights pose a significant threat to human health because heat stress accumulates. The body only begins to recover when temperatures drop below 27 degrees Celsius.
Izidine Pinto, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, warned that unless humans cease burning fossil fuels, heatwaves will only worsen, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and driving up living costs.
