Environment

It’s 20.6°F hotter than normal today in Concord, New Hampshire. Nearby, in Montpelier, Vermont, it’s 19.1°F hotter than normal.

Further south, in New York City, it’s 13.6°F hotter than normal. Over in Philly—where I live, pray for me—it’s 13.8°F hotter than normal. It’s 14.2°F hotter than normal in Detroit; 10.9°F hotter than normal in Chicago; and 9.6°F hotter than normal in Washington, D.C.

All of these extreme temperatures were made more likely by climate change—a phenomenon primarily caused by fossil fuels—according to Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index (CSI). The CSI uses peer-reviewed methodology to map out how much climate change influences the temperature on a particular day.

Western Europe in particular is experiencing temperatures up to 28.6°F hotter than normal. That heat was also made up to five times more likely by climate change.

I’m probably not telling most readers anything they don’t already know. When heat-trapping gases are accumulated in the atmosphere, it results in more extreme heat. Duh.

But I’m saying it anyway, because these are the moments when it’s most impactful to communicate the reality of climate change—in the moments when people are personally experiencing it.