In Cantua, a small town deep within California’s farming heartland, the heat had always been a part of life. By midday on Thursday, the first day of a protracted, extreme heatwave in California’s Central Valley, the country roads were sizzling with heat. Here, changing weather patterns have wrought not only periods of extreme heat, but also an extended drought – two phenomena that feed into each other. Photograph: Giulia MeadorOn several days this week, temperatures reached dangerous highs by 10am. All of those conditions make it harder for people to cope with extreme heat, even those who are acclimatized to high temperatures.

Source: The Guardian July 10, 2021 09:56 UTC