Iran shuts down for two days due to extreme heat

Iran announced a nationwide two-day holiday because of increasing temperatures, state media reported Tuesday. Government spokesperson Ali Bahadori Jahromi said the decision to close governmental offices, banks and schools on Wednesday and Thursday came after the health ministry warned about a possible increase in cases of heat exhaustion because of high المزيد

Heat that hit over 80% of the world’s population in July unlikely without climate change, analysis shows

During a record-hot July, more than 80% of the world’s population saw heat that was statistically unlikely if not for human-caused climate change, according to a new analysis.  The new research, by the nonprofit research group Climate Central, calculated the climate’s shift this July in comparison to a world unaffected المزيد

Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning

While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.” As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income المزيد

Local officials push for extreme heat emergency declaration

WASHINGTON — Blistering temperatures across the country have prompted significant concern from state and local officials who say they are struggling to manage the crisis without federal intervention. In letters sent Thursday and first obtained by NBC News, two of the country’s top organizations representing local officials on the federal المزيد

An Arizona city will use refrigerated containers to store bodies amid extreme heat wave

Currently, no bodies are being stored in these containers, Berry said. So far this year the M.E.’s office has recorded 25 “heat-associated deaths,” with 249 still under investigation. Five of the deaths were people whose bodies were found inside residences with air conditioners that were either not working or not المزيد

Democrats move to ramp up heat safety protections for workers

Congressional Democrats are taking new steps to boost protections for workers toiling in record-high temperatures. A bill introduced in the House and Senate late Wednesday would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to adopt an interim heat standard for workplace safety. The measure, which coincides with heat alerts covering المزيد

Biden taking actions to protect workers affected by extreme heat

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced actions his administration it taking to try to protect workers and communities affected by extreme heat as millions of Americans experience prolonged periods of record-high temperatures. Biden has directed the Department of Labor to increase the enforcement of heat-safety violations and inspections in high-risk المزيد

100 million people now under heat alerts as high temperatures expand into Midwest and Northeast

Sweltering heat that has dogged some parts of the U.S. for more than a month is beginning to hit the Midwest and Northeast, with more than 100 million people now under heat alerts that will remain through Friday. Southern California to southern Michigan and large portions of the Great Plains and المزيد

More than 40 million people in the U.S. live in urban heat islands, climate group finds

Climate Central researchers found that nine major cities — New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, San Diego, Phoenix and Detroit — each housed at least 1 million people currently affected by the urban heat island effect. In New York City, the group reported that almost 80% of المزيد