Extreme heat gripping the western United States is set to peak on Thursday, a wave that may herald a sweltering summer as the UN warns the planet is overheating.
Las Vegas swelters in 44 degrees Celsius and the desert region of Death Valley must approach 49 degrees, due to an oppressive anticyclonic weather system.
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According to scientists, repeated heat waves are an unequivocal marker of global warming and these heat waves are expected to multiply, last longer and intensify.
“Today, record highs and lows will likely be broken or tied between California, Nevada and Arizona,” according to the US Weather Service (NWS).
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Specialists believe that these abnormally high temperatures as summer approaches may be a harbinger of a suffocating summer.
Las Vegas is experiencing dangerous temperatures, above seasonal norms, and authorities there have extended their heat alert until Saturday.
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Air-conditioned venues have been opened to provide respite to people without air conditioning at home in America’s gaming capital.
“We haven’t really had time to acclimatize to such intense and rapid warming,” said Glen Simpson, director of an ambulance service at Channel 13, an ABC affiliate.
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“People are just not used to it even when they grew up here (and) spent all their summers here. The body hasn’t really gotten used to that.”
In California, the situation in the very agricultural region of the Central Valley is also “particularly worrying,” according to federal authorities. “There will be little or no nighttime respite for those who do not have an effective cooling system or cannot adequately hydrate,” according to the NWS (National Weather Service).
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Temperatures are expected to drop slightly in the coming days, but the heat wave will extend north into Oregon and Washington state.
May 2024 will have been the hottest month ever recorded in the world (on land and sea), on the 12the month in a row to beat its own record, according to the European Copernicus Observatory.
And it is 80% likely that the global average temperature over a calendar year will “temporarily” exceed pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5°C by 2028, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned this week.
