The Hidden Science of Heat: What Summer 2026 Is Teaching Us About Climate

The Big Idea

The summer of 2026 is doing something that should make everyone stop and listen: it is speaking in statistics that are starting to sound like warnings. A sprawling heat dome parked over the eastern United States left more than 140 million people under heat alerts and more than 20 states sweltering above 100°F (38°C), with the dead found in homes without air conditioning, on streets, and in parked cars. Across the Atlantic, France logged daily high temperatures averaging 36.9°C...