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Are our summers getting hotter

From the sun-baked piazzas of Rome to the sizzling beaches of Barcelona, the Mediterranean summer has morphed from a tourist's dream into a climate nightmare. The summers are just too hot to do anything but go to the beach, sleep and then wake up in the evening. But if that’s what you want to do, I guess that’s not a problem.

But even for the locals it can be tough though. The traditional afternoon siesta has become less a cultural quirk and more a survival tactic. Fountains in historic squares are doubling as impromptu cooling stations, while the time-honoured passeggiata has shifted ever later into the evening. Ok, perhaps that’s an exaggeration. This is just summer and the weather is always hot at this time of year.

However, there are concerned that the Earth is running a fever, and the thermometer just hit new heights. Last Sunday and Monday, according to Axios who produced this data visualisation, our planet sizzled through its hottest days since records began, likely the warmest in thousands of years.

This isn't just a blip; it's part of a worrying trend. The past year has been a non-stop heat wave, with oceans cooking for 15 months straight. Scientists are scratching their heads, wondering if it's just El Niño playing up or something more sinister. Some reckon it could be down to cleaner ship fuel or even a volcanic burp from 2022. Whatever the cause, it's clear we're in uncharted waters.

Source: Axios

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