标签： North America

Across vast swathes of the United States and Western Europe, summer 2026 has brought record-shattering, blistering heat that has already claimed hundreds of lives, and climate scientists are clear: this extreme warmth is not an anomaly, but the new normal for communities worldwide.

The human cost of this year’s heatwaves has already been staggering. France reported more than 2,000 excess deaths during its late-June heat event. In England and Wales, researchers estimate over 2,700 people have died from heat-related causes across a string of extreme heat events starting in May. During the 4 July holiday weekend alone, the U.S. recorded at least 44 confirmed heat-linked deaths.

Unlike decades past, today’s extreme heat carries a uniquely dangerous twist: overnight temperatures no longer drop enough to let human bodies recover from daytime heat stress, explained Jennifer Marlon, a Yale University climate researcher specializing in extreme heat impacts. “People don’t realise this is not the same heat that we were experiencing 10 years ago, it is actually worse, because in many cases nighttime temperatures are not cooling off,” Marlon told the BBC. With core body temperatures unable to reset during cool nights, even healthy people face elevated risk of heat exhaustion and fatal heat stroke.

While most newly heat-stricken regions are scrambling to adapt, one U.S. city has been preparing for this future for years: Phoenix, Arizona, located in the always-warm Maricopa County. For decades, local officials have built targeted programs to cut heat deaths, and their efforts have yielded measurable results that experts say could act as a global blueprint for heat resilience.

As one of the consistently hottest regions in the U.S., Maricopa County has long prioritized heat safety, launching widespread initiatives ranging from expanded cooling center access to free air conditioning support for low-income residents. In a pioneering move in 2021, Phoenix became the first city in the world to appoint a dedicated municipal heat officer, a role focused on coordinating cross-government action on heat risks.

“We’ve had the relative benefit of knowing that this is going to be a problem every year, but it appears to be more and more of a problem or more of a predictable event in communities across the globe,” said Nicholas Staab, Maricopa County’s chief medical officer.

The county’s proactive strategy has already driven a notable decline in heat mortality. After peaking at 645 heat-related deaths in 2023, the annual count dropped to 405 in 2025, a reduction many public health experts attribute directly to targeted policy interventions. Much of the county’s work centers on expanding access to cooling for the groups most at risk: low-income households and unhoused residents. Cooling centers have extended operating hours, with many now open 24/7 to pull people off overheated streets, and a dedicated program provides free air conditioning repairs or replacements for eligible low-income residents.

“The world has a lot to learn from Maricopa County,” Marlon said.

Despite these successes, the downward trend in mortality is not guaranteed. As of 11 July this year, Maricopa County has already recorded 23 confirmed heat-related deaths, with another 282 cases still under investigation. If all pending cases are confirmed as heat-linked, 2026’s death toll will outpace last year’s count, a reminder of the growing pressure rising temperatures place even on well-prepared communities.

Ladd Keith, director of the Heat Resilience Initiative at the University of Arizona, noted that the simplest step other regions can replicate is appointing a dedicated heat officer to coordinate cross-department action and cut through bureaucratic gridlock. “It’s incredibly important to make someone responsible for heat because the problem is, if it’s no one’s responsibility, then no one will address it,” he said.

Marlon added that even regions unaccustomed to extreme heat can quickly stand up coordinated cooling center networks with proper cross-agency communication – but that progress first requires widespread recognition that extreme heat is not a temporary, one-off event.

Driven by human-caused climate change, the global average temperature has already risen more than 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, and temperatures will continue to climb for years even if nations implement steep, immediate cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Experts emphasize that heat adaptation is no longer optional for communities worldwide, and that heat risks extend far beyond public health: it threatens critical infrastructure and economic stability too, buckling paved roads and causing widespread flight delays during heat peaks.

Most critically, Keith said, communities must abandon outdated planning based on historical temperature records and prepare for a hotter future. “We have to shift away from planning for the historic heat we’ve experienced and start to plan for the heat we’re going to experience in the next five to 10 years,” he said. “If people think it’s bad now, it’s going to be hotter, and it’s going to be hotter longer. The records are going to be broken, you can almost guarantee, year after year across the world.”

Striking time-lapse footage has captured a startling visual shift at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, the chosen venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, as thick haze from hundreds of ongoing Canadian wildfires swept across the region and nearly obscured the massive sports arena from view.

The haze, which has been an ongoing issue for the Northeastern United States through multiple waves of wildfire activity this year, drifted southward from Canada, where hundreds of uncontrolled blazes have been burning across vast swathes of boreal forest in recent months. Climate researchers have linked the increased frequency and intensity of these wildfires to rising global temperatures and prolonged drought conditions across much of Canada, creating ideal conditions for large, fast-spreading fires that send plumes of smoke hundreds of miles across international borders.

For residents and visitors in the New York City metropolitan area, where MetLife Stadium is located just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, the hazy conditions have not only created dramatic and concerning visuals like the timelapse of the vanishing stadium, but have also sparked ongoing public health concerns over poor air quality. The timelapse, which spread rapidly across social media after being shared, has served as a stark visual reminder of how far-reaching the impacts of climate change and large-scale wildfires have become, even for major population centers far from the actual fire lines.

Officials have repeatedly issued air quality alerts across the region during periods of heavy haze, urging vulnerable populations to limit outdoor activity. As wildfire seasons continue to lengthen across North America, episodes of cross-border haze like this are expected to become more common in coming years, raising questions about how major public events like the World Cup will need to adapt to changing air quality conditions moving forward.

A devastating season of Canadian wildfires has triggered a sharp diplomatic standoff between U.S. lawmakers and Canadian officials, as hazardous smoke continues to blanket large swathes of the United States, triggering public health emergencies and disrupting daily life.

As of last Friday, official data from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System recorded more than 890 active wildfires burning across Canada, with over half of these blazes classified as out of control. To date, the infernos have consumed nearly 3 million hectares of Canadian land, making this one of the most destructive wildfire seasons on record for the North American nation.

The far-reaching impact of the blazes has crossed international borders, with a dense, toxic blanket of smoke spreading south into multiple U.S. states, stretching from Minnesota and Michigan in the Midwest to Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York on the East Coast. Hazardous air quality warnings have been activated across the entire affected region, forcing the cancellation of dozens of outdoor public events and forcing residents indoors to avoid exposure.

On Friday, global air quality tracker IQAir ranked Chicago, Illinois as the city with the worst air quality on the planet, with Detroit, Michigan — one of the U.S. cities hardest hit by the pollution — claiming second place, followed by Washington D.C., Toronto and New York City. On Thursday last week, thick smog completely obscured iconic New York City landmarks including the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, prompting city officials to extend existing heat emergencies and activate full air quality emergency protocols. Hundreds of cooling centers have been opened across the five boroughs, and free KN95 masks are being distributed to residents to help reduce smoke inhalation.

The poor air quality has sparked fierce criticism from four Republican members of the U.S. Congress representing districts in Michigan. In a joint open letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the lawmakers — John James, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Lisa McClain — said their patience with Canadian inaction on the wildfire crisis has run out.

“We are done accepting apologies in place of action,” the letter read, adding that the delegation warned the U.S. could move forward with direct cross-border intervention for wildfire management and firefighting operations if Canada failed to take meaningful steps to address the root of the crisis. The lawmakers accused Canada of failing to follow through on 2023 promises to treat the wildfire risk with urgency, claiming that “American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year.” They specifically cited unaddressed issues including chronic underinvestment in preventative measures such as forest thinning, fuel load reduction and controlled prescribed burns, as well as insufficient enforcement to prevent arson.

Prime Minister Carney did not directly respond to the specific accusations in the letter, but used a recent Ontario press conference to push back on the framing of the crisis. Speaking in French, Carney emphasized that “Climate change is everyone’s responsibility — truly everyone’s — including the United States.” He added that his federal government maintains constant close communication with provincial authorities and local affected communities to coordinate response efforts.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also dismissed criticism of his provincial government’s wildfire response, noting that more than 150 fire crews are already deployed on the ground battling active blazes. “We will spend whatever it takes,” Ford stated, to bring the fires under control and support affected communities.

A large cluster of active blazes in northwestern Ontario is the primary source of the smoke drifting south into the U.S. Thick plumes of toxic smoke have already rendered air quality unsafe across Thunder Bay and Toronto in Ontario, before spreading over the Great Lakes and settling over the Northeastern U.S., creating persistent hazy conditions as far south as New York. Beyond the cross-border smoke impacts, the wildfires have already displaced dozens of Indigenous residents from First Nations communities in northern Ontario. Some communities have been forced to evacuate the remote region by boat, and Namaygoosisagagun First Nation Chief Helen Paavola told local outlet CityNews that an aerial survey of her community confirmed it has been “burnt to ashes.”

Data from Canada’s National Forestry Database shows that roughly half of all annual Canadian wildfires are ignited by lightning strikes, while the remaining half are caused by human activity. Climate experts from both Canada and the U.S. have previously warned that rising global temperatures driven by climate change are drying out forest landscapes across North America, creating far more flammable conditions that increase the frequency and severity of major wildfire seasons. When asked by the BBC earlier this year whether Canada could be doing more to curb wildfire risk and resulting smoke pollution, cross-border expert consensus concluded that there is little more Canada could do to stop the large-scale blazes driven by current climate conditions.