Temperatures between 39 and 51°C recorded in southern California and Arizona, Florida, and Texas. A total of 23 million people live in these states. During a Donald Trump rally in Arizona, around ten people felt unwell because of the heat.
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With our correspondent in Houston, Thomas Harms
After several weeks during which Texas was the scene of torrential rains, deadly winds and tornadoes, here is now the time of the heat wave.
In the west of UNITED STATEStemperatures are abnormally high: 40 degrees in Las Vegas (110°F), 42 degrees on average in Brownsville and Laredo, the Texas border towns with Mexico. And the feeling is around 50 degrees, like in Death Valley. “ The last few days have been very hot “, observed the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, publishing a long list of places where daily records were broken.
Although the region is accustomed to sweltering heat, climate change compounded by human activity has led to more extreme weather conditions and the current heatwave is early.
Rare temperatures
At this temperature, there is an air quality alert due to ozone pollution in the city, due to a heat dome. “ All this is due to high atmospheric pressure. This area of high pressure is currently located in the desert southwest of the United States, explains Mariel Ruiz, meteorologist in Dallas. It’s rare to have temperatures above 40 degrees already at the beginning of June for the Las Vegas or Phoenix regions. »
Tucson Arizona – among the fastest-warming cities in the United States – adopts Worker Heat Protection Ordinance, Heat Action Roadmaphttps://t.co/8xuXzeD9l0
— Global Heat Health Information Network (@heathealth_info) June 5, 2024
This current heatwave episode is due to prolonged warming above seasonal norms in the Gulf of Mexico. This could lead to hurricanes as early as mid-June. Forecasters are pessimistic for this season, with 17 to 25 severe storms predicted, including a dozen hurricanes.
After twenty years of drought and in a climate that is becoming more and more arid, California has experienced in recent years an alarming number of destructive fires.
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