June 28, 20237:23 AM ET

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/28/1184677011/heat-wave-climate-change-el-nino-texas

By

Lauren Sommer

Outdoor workers are vulnerable to prolonged heat waves like the one hitting Texas, which climate scientists warn are becoming more common.

David J. Phillip/AP

If there’s one kind of weather extreme that scientists clearly link to climate change, it’s worsening heat waves.

“They are getting hotter,” says Kai Kornhuber, adjunct scientist at Columbia University and scientist at Climate Analytics, a climate think tank. “They are occurring at a higher frequency, so that also increases the likelihood of sequential heat waves.”

In Texas, the Southern U.S. and Mexico, athree-week heat wavehas gripped the region with temperature records falling for days in a row. Extreme heat has also hit India, China and Canada, where widespread wildfires are burning.

“Most of the world’s population has experienced record-breaking heat in recent days,” says Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the University of California, Los…