Extreme heat wave kills many in western United States

On Tuesday, July 9, heatwave warnings affected more than 160 million people in the United States, which has been hit by an intense heat wave that has led to several deaths in the American West in recent days. The mercury is unusually high in the east and south, but the heat is brutal in the west.

In Nevada, the city of Las Vegas experienced a record high of 48.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), these suffocating conditions will continue throughout the western United States this week. “Continued, record heat is extremely dangerous for those without some form of air conditioning.”, X warned on Tuesday.

In fact, several deaths due to the heat have already been reported across the region. A motorcyclist died on Saturday in Death Valley, California, where the mercury soared past 52°C that day. According to the officials of this national park known as one of the hottest places in the world, one of his companions from the same group had to be hospitalized.

The work of firefighters is particularly difficult

In Oregon, at least four deaths have been linked to the heat since Friday, according to local media. In this part of the northwest, which is normally more temperate, Salem city touched 40 degrees Celsius on Monday.

In California, Arizona and Idaho, dozens of cities have set absolute or seasonal temperature records in recent days. “It’s a record heat wave”, Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), summarized during an online press conference this weekend. In California, some residents endure “Not just the hottest day they’ve ever experienced, but the hottest day their parents or grandparents have ever experienced.”he added.

While several fires are raging in the “Golden State,” the heat is making firefighters’ jobs difficult. In the Santa Barbara area, the “Lake Fire” destroyed nearly 11,000 hectares and prompted evacuations. Fire is now threatening Michael Jackson’s long-time Neverland farm.

Scientists say repeated heat waves indicate global warming associated with climate change caused by humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels. According to the European Copernicus Observatory, the heat wave was already the hottest ever recorded in the world since June.