It hit 97 degrees this week in the ocean off South Florida. Not the air temperature — the ocean itself. In steam-bath Miami, the heat index has surpassed 100 degrees for more than 30 straight days. Large swaths of Texas, Nevada and Arizona have been broiling in 110-plus degrees for a week (Phoenix: 118 degrees), with no end to the inferno in sight. In Canada's Northwest Territories — just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle — temperatures climbed to 99.3 degrees. In China, officials are opening underground air-raid shelters so people can hide from life-endangering heat. Climate change's effects are becoming surreal: Last week was the hottest week ever recorded in terms of the average global temperature. July 4 was the hottest day ever recorded — warmer, say scientists, than any other day over the last 125,000 years. With the El Niño climate pattern releasing even more heat in coming months, said climatologist Christopher Hewitt of the World Meteorological Organization, "we are in uncharted territory."
So what do we do? Like the proverbial frog that does not jump out of the slowly heated pot, people really do get used to almost anything, no matter how unpleasant. Just 8% of Americans identify climate change as the most important issue facing the country, a recent poll found. Yet extreme weather events like floods and wildfires that cause more than $1 billion in damage are becoming commonplace, occurring every 18 days now — compared with every 82 days in 1980. The world is finally moving toward solar, wind and renewable energy, but at too slow a pace. This summer's extremes already are exceeding the most pessimistic climate scenarios. As we continue to burn fossil fuels, climatologists warn, the heat will grow even more punishing in coming years, and disasters more frequent. My fellow frogs, have you noticed that the water in this pot is getting awfully warm?
This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Codeword: August 23, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides
-
What do heatwaves mean for Scandinavia?Under the Radar A record-breaking run of sweltering days and tropical nights is changing the way people – and animals – live in typically cool Nordic countries
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questionsUnder the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Acid rain is back: the sequel nobody wantedUnder The Radar A 'forever chemical' in rainwater is reviving a largely forgotten environmental issue
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Tuvalu is being lost to climate change. Other countries will likely follow.Under the Radar Sea level rise is putting islands underwater
-
Melting glaciers may lead to more volcanic eruptionsUnder the radar We're in for a boom
-
Europe's heatwave: the new front line of climate changeIn the Spotlight How will the continent adapt to 'bearing the brunt of climate change'?
