The disturbing reason heat waves can kill people in cooler climates

Exposing the Big Game's avatarThe Extinction Chronicles

It’s not a record-high temperature that necessarily makes a heat wave dangerous. It’s whether you can cool off.

People cool themselves in water spray from a fire truck during a July heat wave in Washington, DC.
 Alex Wong/Getty Images

Already this summer, nine all-time temperature records have been broken and 10 recordshave tied in the United States. One of them was Chino, California, near Los Angeles, which hit a blistering 120 degrees Fahrenheit on July 6.

Overall, 2018 is on track to be the fourth-warmest year on record. And many other countries are suffering from the heat too. A village in Oman saw temperatures linger above 108°F for 51 hours straight, which likely broke the world record for highest minimum temperature ever. Sydney, Australia saw temperatures rise to 76.5°F for more than two days earlier this month, which is…

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