the historic heat wave hitting the south of the country will spread, warn the weather services

The record heat wave that has been hitting the southern United States for several days is expected to spread further across the country, the US weather services warned on Friday July 21. Temperatures could rise to more than 46°C in Phoenix, Arizona (southwest), which is currently experiencing its longest heat wave on record: Friday, the mercury exceeded 43°C for a 22nd day in a row. About 80 million Americans will experience temperatures of 41°C and higher this weekend.

For the rest of July, the heat wave should move towards the center of the country, on the side of the Rockies and the great plains of the Midwest, according to the American Agency for Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation (NOAA).

Worldwide, July 2023 “on track to become the hottest July ever measured”, according to the European observatory Copernicus. It’s also on track to break the record for the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, not only since measurements were taken, but also for decades. “hundreds, if not thousands of years”, Nasa chief climatologist Gavin Schmidt told reporters. This is not just due to El Niño, the cyclic weather phenomenon that causes global temperatures to rise, he said. For Gavin Schmidt, extreme temperatures will persist because “we continue to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere”.