More than 90 million people in the US were under a heat advisory or warning over the weekend as extreme heat sent temperatures soaring from Texas to the Northeast. At least two deaths have been reported, though officials warn many more could die as the heatwave broke 359 daily high-temperature records and a whopping 709 records for warmest overnight low temperature last week. High overnight temperatures are especially dangerous because they prevent the body from cooling down and recovering.
That danger is especially high for low-income Texans unable to afford to purchase or operate air-conditioners as inflation, driven largely by high fossil fuel prices, and skyrocketing energy prices in a Texas electricity grid stretched to the breaking point by extreme heat, are squeezing Texans’ already-tight finances from both sides. (CNN; Heat advisories: NPR, CBS, CNN, NPR, Washington Post $; Northeast: Washington Post $, Yahoo, CNN, New York Times $; Records: Axios, CBS; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves)