(Los Angeles) Several tens of millions of Americans are experiencing dangerously high temperatures on Friday, due to a strong heat wave extending from California to Texas, even to parts of Florida, and which is expected to peak this week-end.
A heat dome has been raging since the beginning of the week over the southwestern desert states, posing serious health risks to the elderly, construction workers and other delivery workers, or the homeless.
In Arizona, one of the hardest-hit states, daily life now resembles a marathon against the sun’s rays. Phoenix, the state capital, will record its 15e day in a row above 43 degrees, according to the US Weather Services (NWS).
PHOTO MATT YORK, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Salvation Army distributed free water bottles to beat the heat on July 11 in Phoenix.
The heat caused the cancellation of a series of concerts, supposed to take place in the evening each weekend of the summer in the city. This week on social media, some Arizona residents posted photos of tar melting on their roofs, or videos of them cooking an egg in the sun.
The authorities have been sounding the alarm continuously for several days. They recommend Americans avoid daytime outdoor activities and watch for signs of dehydration, which can quickly become fatal in such temperatures.
Mortal danger
To say to yourself that “it’s the desert, of course it’s hot” is “a DANGEROUS state of mind! “, insisted Tuesday the NWS of Las Vegas.
“The most intense period” of this heat wave “begins” this weekend, meteorologists warned. The Nevada city could break its temperature record on Sunday.
PHOTO JOHN LOCHER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A man cools off in foggers set up on the Strip in the Las Vegas Strip on July 13.
In California, the famous “Valley of Death”, one of the hottest places on the planet, is also likely to reach summits on Sunday, with a mercury which could be around 54 ° C (130 ° Fahrenheit).
This week, the south of the “Golden State” was affected by numerous small fires, which were quickly brought under control by firefighters.
Invisible, unlike floods and wildfires, heat remains the deadliest weather phenomenon in the United States. However, the problem is regularly underestimated.
Last weekend, sweltering temperatures killed ten migrants along the US border with Mexico, according to the Border Patrol (CBP).
Last week, Arizona’s most populous Maricopa County released a report of 425 heat deaths in the summer of 2022, up 25% from the previous year.
Those numbers have been making headlines across the United States, as heat numbs much of the south of the country.
In Texas, the city of El Paso is chaining longevity records: Thursday, it recorded its 27e day above 37.7°C (100° Fahrenheit). In Florida, the temperatures are also very hot and the heat wave even affects the ocean.
Climate change
The White House took advantage of the current heat wave to announce on Tuesday the development of a “national heat strategy”.
“Millions of Americans are affected by extreme heat waves, which are increasing in intensity, frequency and duration due to climate change,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
It is always difficult to attribute a particular weather event to climate change. But scientists insist that global warming, linked to humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels, is responsible for the multiplication and intensification of heat waves in the world.
The heatwave comes as the world has just experienced its hottest June on record, according to the Copernicus (C3S) climate change observatory.
In the United States, meteorologists do not yet predict a respite. Temperatures are expected to remain abnormally high next week in the south of the country.