By ISABELLA O’MALLEY and MARY KATHERINE WILDEMAN
This year has already seen many heat records broken as the world grows hotter with more and more greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere.
For many places, the highest temperatures since record-keeping began have come in just the last 10 to 15 years. That’s the clearest possible sign that humans are altering the climate, said Randall Cerveny, a professor at Arizona State University.
Cerveny said temperatures in India, the Middle East, and the U.S. Southwest have been exceptionally hot in 2024.
Las Vegas recorded 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.0 degrees Celsius) on Sunday for the first time in history.
“It feels like the air is a blanket of just hotness that is enveloping you,” Cerveny said about that kind of heat. It’s life threatening and people are unprepared for it, he added.
Here is a look at some of the records that have been broken around the world this year. Even one tenth of one degree above a previous record is a meaningful increase, and these records were all broken by at least seven times that amount.
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
2024 record: 120.02 F (48.9 C)
Previous record: 117 F (47.2 C) set in 2017
Morrisville, North Carolina, United States
2024 record: 105.98 F (41.1 C)
Previous record: 105.08 F (40.6 C) set in 2012
Agness, Oregon, United States
2024 record: 114.98 F (46.1 C)
Previous record: 111.92 F (44.4 C) set in 1998
Palmdale, California, United States
2024 record: 114.98 F (46.1 C)
Previous record of 113 (45 C) set in 2007
Redding California, United States
2024 record: 118.94 F (48.3 C)
Previous record: 118.04 F (47.8 C) set in 1988
Las Trampas, California, United States
2024 record: 107.96 F (42.2 C)
Previous record: 105.98 (41.1 C) set in 2021
Aswan, Egypt
2024 record: 121.28 F (49.6 C)
Previous record: 120.02 (48.9 C) set in 1961
Geraldton, Australia
2024 record: 120.74 F (49.3 C)
Previous record: 117.86 F (47.7 C) set in 1954
Progreso, Mexico
2024 record: 111.56 F (44.2 C)
Previous record: 108.50 (42.5 C) set in 2023
Gaya, India
2024 record: 117.32 F (47.4 C)
Previous record: 116.60 F (47 C) set in 1978
Sikasso, Mali
2024 record: 116.24 F (46.8 C)
Previous record: 108.50 F (42.5 C) set in 2020
Vinh, Vietnam
2024 record: 109.22 F (42.9 C)
Previous record: 105.8 F (41 C) set in 2019
Mama, Russia
2024 record: 101.12 F (38.4 C)
Previous record: 99.86 F (37.7 C) set in 2017
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