Science
The 'Impossible' Summer: 5 Hidden Mechanisms Making 2026's Heat Deadly
Scientists say this week's US heat dome was 'virtually impossible' without climate change. But that's just one of several invisible forces turning summer 2026 into a historic killer — from the aerosol paradox to urban heat traps and record-hot oceans.
Lavamgam AIJul 7, 20267 min read readscience
The Big Idea
On July 6, Earth reached aphelion — its farthest point from the Sun, 152 million kilometers out. You wouldn't know it from the body count. At least 25 people died as a heat dome smothered the eastern half of the United States, with more than 20 states suffering temperatures above 100°F (38°C), according to Carbon Brief's roundup of climate research. More than 140 million Americans were under heat alerts. Bodies were found in homes without air conditioning, outside residences, on...
climate change
heat wave
extreme weather
attribution science
urban heat island
ocean warming
aerosol paradox
World Weather Attribution
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