Phoenix’s record streak of temperatures above 110F ends after 31 days
Phoenix’s record stretch of daily highs over 110F (43.3C) ended Monday as cooling monsoon rains slightly tempered the dangerous heatwave that suffocated the American south-west throughout July.
The region, from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert, has been grappling with historic heat since June. Phoenix and its suburbs sweltered more intensely than most, with several records including the 31 consecutive days of 110F days. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974.
The streak was finally broken Monday, when the high topped out at 108F (42.2C), the National Weather Service reported.
But the reprieve was expected to be brief, with the forecast calling for highs again above 110F for several days later in the week. And National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Hirsch said August could be even hotter than July.
Over 50 million Americans remain under a heat advisory in one of the hottest summers ever recorded, and a heatwave continues to affect vast parts of the country.
Nasa recently confirmed June was the hottest June ever.
The hot and dry weather in the south-west of the US has set off a wave of wildfires. California and Nevada are currently battling a major fire that is uncontrolled. Another out-of-control fire that originated in Washington state has spread into Canada, forcing residents in the town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, to evacuate.
Doctors in the south-west reported a rise in first-, second-, and third-degree contact-burn cases, some fatal, amid extreme heat conditions.
Experts say the measures are a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough. In his address, Biden stopped short of declaring a climate emergency or directly addressing the need to phase out planet-heating fossil fuels.
On Monday, four Democratic senators – Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren – sent a letter to the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, urging him to bring lawsuits against the fossil-fuel industry for its longstanding and carefully coordinated campaign to mislead consumers and discredit climate science in pursuit of huge profits.
In the letter, the lawmakers wrote: “The fossil-fuel industry has had scientific evidence about the dangers of climate change and the role that burning fossil fuels play in increasing global temperatures for more than 50 years.”
They added: “Despite these companies’ knowledge about climate change and the role their industry was playing in driving carbon emissions, they chose to participate in a decades-long, carefully coordinated campaign of misinformation to obfuscate climate science and convince the public that fossil fuels are not the primary driver of climate change.”
cover photo:People stand atop a rock formation to watch the sunset in Phoenix on Sunday. Photograph: Matt York/AP