The latest heat wave is something that regions of our country have never encountered before — at least not for such a long period of time.
Areas in the Southwest and even Florida will soon experience temperatures that will prove to be extremely uncomfortable, even to residents that tend to favor particularly hot summer seasons.
This current heatwave has been ongoing, and never truly stopped, but has been uniquely affecting the Southern and Southwestern region of the United States since the middle of June.
According to an article from CNN, published on July 10, “Phoenix could break the record for consecutive days above 110 degrees as a result. The city has been above 110 degrees for 10 consecutive days and could break the record of 19 days next Tuesday.”
As of today, Phoenix is on its fifteenth consecutive day at or above 110 degrees.
Meteorologists are concerned with the level of heat present for such a duration of time, warning that the world is calling on us for change and that we need to listen.
Meteorologist and Director of Climate Matters, Bernadette Woods Placky, told CNN, “Earth is screaming at us right now and people need to listen.” She believes that “It should be a wake-up call or an urgency to people that this is just not normal.”
Placky also told CNN that “It puts us in a whole new climate zone,” and “it pushes our heat even higher and extends it for longer. And that plays out in a lot of different ways that dramatically affects human health.”
Currently, over 108 million Americans are under heat alerts around the country ranging from Florida to Texas as well as in Arizona and California.
This weekend, it’s expected that southern temperatures will begin to slightly cool in some areas, but the heat will grow stronger across the Southwest, with record temperatures potentially reaching as high as 130 degrees.
Dallas is approaching a heat index of 111 degrees Monday, Corpus Christi 118 degrees, and New Orleans, Memphis and Jacksonville at 110 degrees.
According to the Washington Post, “Las Vegas is likely to tie its all-time record high of 117 degrees on Sunday and Monday. If the city makes it to one degree higher, it would breach uncharted territory.”
