heat waves Archives - State of the Planet

Global map showing wet bulb temperatures

Putting This Summer’s Record Global Heat Into Context

A roundup of articles aimed at explaining what is happening, and why.

by |September 7, 2023

1,000-Plus Years of Tree Rings Confirm Historic Extremity of 2021 Western North America Heat Wave

Scientists quickly pronounced the summer 2021 heat wave that hit western North America to be unprecedented, but they had no long-term physical proof. Now they do.

by |March 27, 2023

A Study Offers New Insights Into the Record 2021 Western North America Heat Wave

Several weeks during summer 2021 saw heat records in the western United States and Canada broken not just by increments, but by tens of degrees, an event of unprecedented extremity. To what degree was it climate change, bad luck, or a combination?

by |November 24, 2022

Greenland’s Long and Intense Melt Season Is a Worrying Sign for Sea Level

Summer melt across Greenland has broken records this year.

by |September 29, 2022

Summer Heat Waves Caused Several Glaciers to Collapse

Europe’s deadly summer 2022 heat waves caused two dramatic glacier collapses and fueled the melting of a third.

by Jaden Hill |September 13, 2022
comparison with 2050 forecast and 2022 reality

As Global Warming Fuels Record-Smashing Heat Emergencies, Cut Vulnerability Now and CO2 Always

Don’t let the heat, or the size of the climate problem, paralyze you. There are cool solution paths cutting climate risk down the block or around the world.

by |July 19, 2022
map of high temperatures across europe

Heat Waves: Climate School Experts Available to Comment

Hundreds of people have lost their lives in Spain and Portugal due to a heat wave that is moving north and east.

by |July 18, 2022

More Frequent European Heat Waves Linked to Changes in Jet Stream

A new study shows that weather systems that normally cool part of the continent are being diverted northward. This is combining with overall warming to produce long-lived heat waves.

by |July 5, 2022
map of high temperatures across the u.s.

How Can We Make Heat Waves Less Deadly?

Though often underestimated, extreme heat is the leading weather-related killer in the U.S.

by |June 14, 2022
Warning signs about heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Warning: Pakistan Is at the Broiling Point

There has never been a clearer call to climate action, nor more compelling evidence that climate change is an acute threat multiplier in the poorest, most vulnerable frontline countries in the world.

by Hadia Sheerazi |May 20, 2022