The dried branches of a dead tree are seen at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, near Furnace Creek, during a heatwave impacting Southern California on July 7, 2024. (Photo by Etienne Laurent / AFP)
As Hurricane Beryl batters Texas and extreme heat blankets much of the US South and West, the world is set for another week of wild weather that human-caused climate change makes more likely.
Beryl made landfall around the middle the Texas coast near Matagorda with a dangerous storm surge and strong winds in the early hours of Monday. The powerful storm previously devastated parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.
It's the earliest a storm has ever reached the wind speeds of a Category 5 hurricane, fueled by the ocean being as warm in June as it typically would be in September after months of summer sun.
Beryl is just one example of extremes that are fueled by climate change.
Boats sit in a marina ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Beryl in Corpus Christi, Texas on July 7, 2024. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP)
Here’s what’s happening related to extreme weather and the climate right now:
• A persistent heat wave is lingering into Monday in parts of the US with an excessive heat warning - the National Weather Service’s highest alert - in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population. Several heat records have already been shattered by this latest heat wave, with several parts of Northern California hitting 110 Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius).
• That heat is part of a global trend of hotter weather: June marks the 13th straight month to shatter a monthly heat record, according to Europe's Copernicus climate service. That streak might end soon, but not the chaos that comes with a warmer planet, scientists say.
Firefighters work to contain the Lake Fire burning in Los Padres National Forest with evacuation warnings in the area on July 6, 2024 near Los Olivos, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP)
• The hot weather doesn't affect everyone equally. A New York City mortality report found Black residents die from heat stress at double the rate of white residents. The Associated Press took a deep dive into how heat exacerbates other socioeconomic inequalities in cities.
• Elsewhere, landslides on Indonesia's Sulawesi island following torrential rain have killed at least 11 people and left dozens missing at an illegal gold mining operation. Rain has been pounding the region since Saturday.
Rain showers near the sea front in Mumbai on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Punit Paranjpe / AFP)
• Monsoon rains in India are continuing to cause havoc across the country, reaching the western city of Mumbai. Last week, over a dozen people died in landslides and flooding in northeastern Assam state.
• South Africa is bracing for a week of damaging storms, with weather authorities warning that Cape Town and surrounding areas are expected to be hit by multiple cold fronts until at least Friday, bringing torrential rain, strong winds and flooding. The worst-hit areas are expected to be the poor, informal settlements on the edge of the city.
The photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows an aerial view of a partially submerged Guanyin temple in floodwaters in the swollen Yangtze River, in Ezhou, in central China's Hubei province. (Photo by AFP)
