Las Vegas has been suffocating since Thursday, with temperatures oscillating between 29 and 44°C. In the desert region of Death Valley, located west of Sin Citytemperatures approach 49°C, due to an oppressive anticyclonic weather system.
“Record highs and lows will likely be broken or tied today between California, Nevada and Arizona,” according to the US Weather Service (NWS).
Las Vegas is experiencing dangerous temperatures above seasonal norms and authorities there have extended their heat alert until Saturday. Air-conditioned venues have been opened to provide respite to people without air conditioning in their homes in America’s gaming capital.
In California, the situation in the very agricultural region of the Central Valley is also “particularly worrying,” according to federal authorities. “There will be little or no nighttime respite for those who do not have an effective cooling system or cannot adequately hydrate,” according to the NWS.
Temperatures are expected to drop slightly in the coming days, but the heat wave will extend north to Oregon and Washington state.
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A likely suffocating summer
Specialists believe that these abnormally high temperatures as summer approaches may be a harbinger of a suffocating summer. According to scientists, repeated heat waves are an unequivocal marker of global warming and these heat waves are expected to multiply, last longer and intensify.
May 2024 was the hottest May on record worldwide (on land and sea), on 12e month in a row to beat its own record, according to the European Copernicus Observatory. And it is 80% likely that the global average temperature over a calendar year will “temporarily” exceed pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5°C by 2028, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned this week.
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