Veronica Glover

Senior Staff Writer

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported in June during a monthly climate update that it was Earth’s warmest June since global temperature record-keeping began in 1850. The historically high temperatures didn’t stop in July, the planet’s hottest month on human record. Researchers assert that July 6 was the most scorching day Earth has experienced since at least 1979, and plausibly before that, with some claiming that we have to go back at least 125,000 years for another day as warm.

Since then, global air temperatures have continued to climb, with Death Valley in California reaching the highest recorded temperature of 122℉, only 12 degrees short of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth. Phoenix, Arizona, reached 19 consecutive days when temperatures rose to 110 degrees or more. Phoenix happens to be one of America’s fastest-growing cities despite being in a state with a growing climate crisis threatening its future. Furthermore, it is already suffering from a significant groundwater shortage—along with many other places—with signs of overuse, extreme drought, and the depredations of climate change.

For years, scientists have repeatedly warned about more heat, wildfires, droughts, intense rainfall, and other extreme weather events in relation to future warming. Nevertheless, no one was prepared for the level of disaster from the blistering heat, which burned territory and left a worldwide trail of devastation. This summer, fires engulfed a large part of Europe, North America, and North Africa. The Canadian wildfires have burned nearly 42 million acres this year. Haze and smog poured across the border of Canada and swept over most of the continental U.S., leaving residents indoors with closed windows for several days. Hundreds of wildfires in Canada were left unchecked or were difficult to contain, resulting in a thick, smoky orange blanket covering the atmosphere and cough-inducing air quality. 

The eye-watering smoke caused health alerts from New York all the way here to the Carolinas and west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of August, Canada is still experiencing more than 1,000 active wildfires, the majority of which are still uncontrolled. Nevertheless, after several calamitous wildfire seasons, over 200,000 acres in California have been consumed by wildfires so far this year. The York Fire, just one of more than 5,000 in the state in 2023, swept across thousands of acres in the Mojave Desert as dry and windy weather made the fire significantly more dangerous. The York Fire was challenging to control, as firefighters witnessed spinning columns of fire known as fire whirls, which are prone to form when extreme heat and strong winds combine. 

It has been a tremendously devastating and relentless wildfire season in large parts of the U.S. and worldwide. The planet is experiencing extreme heat that affects far more than the environment. Global warming has taken a toll on human bodies, especially for people who are older or who work outdoors. Summer heat waves are known to have killed thousands and may have killed nearly 61,000 people across Europe last year, according to a recent study. In addition, reports from the Federal Health Ministry reveal that this year’s heat waves have devastated Mexico, where 249 people have died due to heat-related causes since March. The problems in Canada go beyond the lost forest landscapes, as more than 25,000 Indigenous residents are displaced across the country. 

I can’t help but think of the hundreds of thousands of victims who are grieving the loss of their loved ones, the loss of their homes, and the loss of their livelihoods. Many residents, wherever fires happened, were unprepared and left with no means or plan of action to respond. In Hawaiʻi, people relied on philanthropists and leaders to establish funds for those impacted by wildfires in Lahaina and Kula last month. The People’s Fund of Maui is offering payments of $1,200 per month to adults whose homes were destroyed to “put money directly in the hands of those individuals most affected,” said Hawaiian native Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Hopefully, the efforts to help survivors are the first of many collective steps to assist with societal and environmental damage, along with learning how to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions to protect our oceans, land habitats, animals, and future generations.