Tony Berastegui Jr., 15, right, and his sister Giselle Berastegui, 12, drink water as temperatures are expected to hit 46 C on Monday, July 17, 2023, in Phoenix. Much of the populous U.S. northeast is facing temperatures Friday and Saturday that will feel like 40 C or higher. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Ross D. Franklin
WASHINGTON – The hottest month in recorded history is going out with a bang in the United States.
Much of the populous U.S. northeast is facing temperatures today and Saturday that will feel like 40 C or even higher.
July isn’t over until next week, but the World Meteorological Organization has already predicted it will be the most sweltering month ever recorded.
That has the White House taking steps to better protect outdoor workers from what President Joe Biden says is the top cause of weather-related deaths.
Those measures include tougher enforcement on employers, more precise weather forecasts and better water storage systems in the Pacific Northwest.
Biden met Thursday with the mayors of Phoenix and San Antonio to talk about ways to help communities deal with what he calls a direct consequence of climate change.
“Folks, we really want to pretend these things are normal?” Biden said, adding that extreme heat is costing the country $100 billion a year.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego acknowledged that her city knows a thing or two about hot summers, but has never seen anything quite like this.
“It’s taking a real toll on our community,” Gallego told Biden. “We feel like we are very much on the front lines of climate change.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called climate change a “terrifying” new reality for humanity.
“The era of global warming has ended,” Guterres said. “The era of global boiling has arrived.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2023.
