New York City is set to become the next location in the United States to face historic temperatures as a heat wave approaches the area, Gothamist reported on Friday.
A National Weather Service meteorologist said a "heat dome" will push temperatures into the 90s from next Tuesday through Thursday, but that humidity will make it feel as hot as 100 °F outdoors.
This summer could be the hottest in New York City history, surpassing 2023, which is currently the hottest on record. Authorities are already encouraging people to stay in cooled indoor spaces next week, and published a map of public spaces with air conditioning.
Other areas of the country have been affected by heat domes in the past weeks, with Texas, Arizona and Florida also seeing record temperatures for this part of the year. Last week, six migrants died late last week while attempting to enter to the United States through the southern border, The Guardian reported.
They were crossing through southern Texas (more precisely El Paso) during a scorching heat wave that has been gripping the area for weeks now.
Temperatures in southern Texas reached 106 °F last Thursday (41 °C), while some 34 million people in the country were under heat alerts spanning all the way to California.
Local Border Patrol said four people who were found in the past days died as a result of "heatstroke and dehydration." At least two others were also found dead in the area days before.
Arizona authorities, on their end, are resorting to ice baths in hopes of saving heat stroke victims in a city that has seen hundreds of heat-related deaths last year. Starting this season, the hottest big city in the country will implement the measure as a go-to protocol while taking victims to the hospital.
Authorities have warned about "potentially life-threatening heat-related illnesses due to a change in the weather pattern that will result in triple-digit temperatures during the region's first summer heat wave."
Maricopa county authorities reported 645 heat-related deaths last year, most of them in phoenix during a period where temperatures didn't drop below 110 °F for 31 consecutive days. 40% of those who get severe heat illnesses don't survive.
In recent months, Mexico and the United States have been experiencing the El Niño phenomenon, which causes sea surface temperatures to be warmer than average, affecting the climate worldwide.
As ocean temperatures rise, this phenomenon heats up the atmosphere and alters wind circulation patterns that travel from one continent to another.
The phenomena gets more common as global temperatures continue to heat up. Earth recorded all-time highs last year, and 92% of the increases were caused by humans, according to a group of scientists.
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