United States of America

US: At Least 25 Dead Amid Record Temperatures

Is the heat dome a climate change wake-up call or are doomsday narratives doing more harm than good?

Published JUL 6

US: At Least 25 Dead Amid Record Temperatures

Story

Above: A youth football coach during a heat wave on the West Side of Chicago on July 2. Image credit: Octavio Jones/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

A heat dome over the eastern U.S. has been linked to at least 25 deaths, with over 140 million people under active heat alerts as of Sunday. Temperatures exceeded 100°F in more than 20 states.
Fox Weather
Tempo English on X
Carbon Brief
New Jersey recorded 22 suspected heat-related deaths across 10 counties, with victims ranging in age from their mid-30s to their 80s. Many were found in homes without air conditioning, on streets or in parked vehicles.
La Voce di New York
Daily Caller
NBC
Mississippi's Hinds County reported two heat-related deaths, including 74-year-old Mitchell Ray Cooley, found behind a gas station, and an 83-year-old woman who collapsed in her garden.
NBC
Business Standard
Guardian
Independence Day events in Washington, D.C., were disrupted by the heat, with the traditional parade cancelled and the Great American State Fair temporarily closed after 44 visitors required treatment for heat-related illnesses.
Business Standard
WAFF48
Severe thunderstorms following the heat wave produced more than 540 damaging wind gust reports across the central and eastern U.S. on Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
The Asia Business Daily
NBC
The heat has also set off the wildfire season, with the National Interagency Fire Center reporting 124 new fires over the holiday weekend. The Aspen Acres Fire in southern Colorado had grown to over 86,000 acres as of Sunday.
La Voce di New York
NPR

Sources Split

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Scientists have confirmed that this week's brutal heat dome would've been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. Fossil fuel emissions have fundamentally altered the climate, making deadly heat waves far more likely today than before industrialization. Dismissing green policy right now, as temperatures shatter records across the U.S. and Europe, is a dangerous act of willful ignorance.

guardian

The New York Times

Climate-skeptic narrative

Climate doomsterism has a long track record of being spectacularly wrong, with climate-related deaths having fallen by over 90% in the past century. Air quality keeps improving, food production keeps rising, and human innovation consistently outpaces the catastrophes alarmists predict. Scaring people with apocalyptic narratives causes real harm, from mental health damage to declining birth rates, without improving the environment.

Heritage Foundation