Western Europe is rewriting temperature records for the second time this month. Tuesday became the hottest day ever recorded in France, with temperatures exceeding 44°C (111°F) in the country’s southwest, according to the national weather service. In the UK, temperatures are forecast to approach 38°C (100°F) by Thursday, well above the previous June record of 35.6°C (96.1°F). These records are being broken by substantial margins rather than by fractions of a degree.
Europe is warming faster than any other continent, and one reason may seem paradoxical: cleaner air. As countries have reduced emissions, the atmosphere now contains fewer aerosol particles, which previously reflected some incoming sunlight back into space. Combined with declining snow cover—which causes the land to absorb more heat—and shifts in atmospheric circulation, cleaner air has, in some regions, contributed to additional warming.
A domino effect is also taking hold. Each heatwave helps fuel the next by drying out the soil. As the ground loses moisture, more of the Sun’s energy goes directly into heating the air instead of evaporating water from the surface, making subsequent heatwaves even more intense.
But the real challenge is not record-breaking temperature spikes. Cities and healthcare systems can often prepare for a single day above 40°C (104°F). A month of relentless 35°C (95°F) heat, however, is far more difficult to manage.
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