The record-breaking heat wave that has been sweeping the southern United States for several days is expected to spread across the country, reaching some 80 million Americans, authorities warn that temperatures above 41 degrees are expected.
According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), July could be the hottest month on record in the country, with more than 46°C in Phoenix, Arizona.
This region is currently experiencing the longest heat wave on record, and today the mercury exceeded 43°C for the 22nd consecutive day.
Some 500 kilometers away, in California, Death Valley and its highest temperatures on the planet attract tourists, who want to take photos next to a screen that shows increasingly extreme temperatures.
There are those who hope that the absolute record of the Earth, registered at 56.6 ° C in 1913, will be exceeded, but questioned by some specialists.
During the rest of July, the heat wave is expected to move toward the center of the country, toward the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains of the Midwest, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The month of July is on track to break the record for the warmest month ever recorded on Earth, not only for as long as there are records, but also for “hundreds, if not thousands of years,” NASA chief climatologist Gavin Schmidt told reporters.
Schmidt says the situation is not only due to El Niño, the cyclical weather phenomenon that originates in the Pacific Ocean and causes global temperatures to rise, but because “we continue to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”
Source: TSF
