Vast swaths of our planet are becoming literally too hot and dry to survive in. This past spring, the city of Nawabshah in southern Pakistan, recorded a high of 122.4° Fahrenheit, the highest temperature ever registered anywhere on Earth for the month of April. The contiguous United States had its hottest month of May, and the third-hottest month of June. Wildfires raged in the Arctic as northern Europe grappled with near-record heat, and at least 86 people died in Japan as triple-digit temperatures baked the country. A recent analysis of climate trends in some of South Asia’s biggest cities found that temperatures will be so high by the end of the century that people directly exposed to such heat will not be able to survive. Already, daytime heat is extreme enough to kill people who are forced to work outdoors in many parts of the world, and wreaks havoc on the health and livelihoods of tens of millions each year.
Source: Verso
