It is an indication of the worse things to come. Tens of millions were battling dangerously high temperatures in the United States on Saturday as record heat forecasts hung over Europe and Japan, in the latest example of the threat from global warming.
A powerful heatwave stretching from California to Texas was expected to peak as the US National Weather Service warned of an "extremely hot and dangerous weekend". Daytime highs were forecast to range between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in the west.
In Arizona, one of the hardest-hit states, residents face a daily endurance marathon against the sun. State capital Phoenix recorded 16 straight days above 109F (43 degrees Celsius), with temperatures hitting 111F on Saturday en route to an expected 115F.
California's Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, is also likely to register new peaks on Sunday, with the mercury possibly rising to 130F (54C). Temperatures had already reached 48C by midday on Saturday and even overnight lows could exceed 38C.
OpinionExpress.In
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