The Heat Beat Goes On

It's not just the US in the fryer: Europe is in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave. The Netherlands, France, Italy, England (where the British Open golf tourney is beginning in triple digit temps.) Deaths have started to be recorded. A similar heatwave in 2003 claimed 20,000 dead. In terms of terrorism, that's between 6 and 7 9/11s.

In 2004, a UK climate research group warned that a further sign of the climate crisis would be these heatwaves becoming more frequent and more severe in England and Europe.

In the US, storms wrack the north while the heat continues in the south and west. Tropical storm Beryl is heading north, and could possibly strike anywhere from Long Island to New England on Friday. If it makes landfall in New England, it will be the first tropical storm ever to do so in any July on record. Warmer ocean water feeding storms worldwide is another widely predicted indicator of global heating.