"July is shaping up to be the planet’s hottest month on record as global warming, El Niño and regional heat waves conspire to push civilization into uncharted thermal territory, experts say.

As a sizzling heat dome spread misery over the American Southwest, and hospitals reported increasing numbers of heat-related illnesses, government officials told reporters this week that it was increasingly likely that July would rank as the hottest month ever recorded, and that 2023 and 2024 may end up being the hottest years ever.

“We are seeing unprecedented changes all over the world — the heat waves that we are seeing in the U.S., in Europe, in China are demolishing records left, right and center,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies."

Hayley Smith reports for the Los Angeles Times July 22, 2023. [2]