Phoenix breaks heat record with 19th day of temperatures at 43C or higher

The extreme heat scorching Phoenix, Arizona, set a record Tuesday 18 July, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110F (43C) in a summer of suffering echoing around much of the globe.

As human-caused climate change and a newly formed El Nino combine to shatter heat records worldwide, the Phoenix region, where it reached 116F by 2pm, stands apart among major US metropolitan areas.

No other major city – defined as the 25 most populous in the United States – has had any stretch of 110-degree days or 90-degree nights longer than Phoenix, weather historian Christopher Burt of the Weather Company said.

It’s not only the brutal daytime highs that are deadly. The lack of a nighttime cooldown can rob people without access to air conditioning of the break their bodies need to function properly.