Climate Point: Hottest summer on record

Heat records just keep stacking up around the globe and across the southern U.S. As the three-month climatological summer came to a close, many locations reported a summer among the top five warmest, and for some, the heat showed no signs of letting up as September began.

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to news about climate change, energy and the environment. I'm Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent on USA TODAY's climate and environment team.

Meteorologists count summer as the three months between June 1 and August 31, not the typical season that ends later in September. Using that measure, the globe just turned in its hottest summer on record , breaking a record set in 2023, reported USA TODAY's Doyle Rice, based on information provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service. That includes the globe's hottest ever June and hottest ever August.

August marked 530 consecutive months with U.S. temperatures above the 20th century average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director for the climate service. Last year was the warmest year on record. Global temperature records date back to the 1800s.

Summer in the US

It was also the warmest summer on record in Phoenix, Las Vegas and at Dulles International Airport outside Washington D.C., according to the National Weather Service. Death Valley saw its warmest summer on record, with an average temperature of 104.5 degrees, the Weather Service said. Many other locations saw one of their top five or top 10 warmest summers on record.

It's hotter in Phoenix than in any other city in the U.S. The average temperature over the three months was 98.9 degrees, nearly two degrees higher than Summer 2023. As of Thursday, the city set its latest record for reaching 116 degrees and reached 102 days straight with temperatures over 100 degrees.

“The things that were rare are becoming less rare,” Michael Crimmins, a climatologist at the University of Arizona, told the Arizona Republic. "(The records) stack up on each other, and that’s the creeping crud of the climate change story."

Millions along the Pacific Coast will be under heat advisories this weekend, including temperatures up to 15-20 degrees above normal in Ventura, California where temperatures could reach their hottest of the summer so far. Similar conditions are forecast in Oregon's Willamette Valley . That means a high risk for heat-related illnesses, especially for the elderly, outside workers and youth who play and practice outdoor sports.

People aren't the only ones coping with the heat

High temperatures also pose risks for pets, animals and even plants. Joan Meiners with the Arizona Republic spent time at the Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Garden to write about how the zoo cares for animals such as its hornbills, goats and elephants in the relentless heat and how the botanical garden cares for plants like cacti and agave.

In the region's rising heat, the challenges to cope have become difficult to ignore for low-income and unhoused people and the animals and plants living in the wild, Meiners writes. Already this year, at least 150 people in Maricopa County have died from causes related to heat . Saguaro skeletons, many that failed to outlast record heat in July 2023 and are still propped up by two-by-fours, serve as reminders that nature is not immune.

Animals struggling to find water face significant challenges in surviving and reproducing , writes the Republic's Trilce Estrada Olvera in a story about the efforts Arizona wildlife officials are taking to provide water catchments for animal life.

Preserving trees

One of the joys of driving into the mountains of the West are the rippling leaves and silvery bark of the quaking aspen trees. Now a team of scientists from the University of California studying the trees' genetics hopes to breed trees that might be more resilient to drought and rising temperatures. They've collected aspen roots gathered from Canada to Mexico and grown a research forest, writes Ignacio Calderon at the Coloradoan.

Energy project updates

Rhode Island: Revolution Wind has reached a milestone with its plan to install 65 offshore wind turbines in the waters off Rhode Island in a 704-megawatt wind farm. The developers, Ørsted and Eversource, announced the first turbine installation had been completed at the sight, about 15 miles south of Little Compton, Rhode Island.

Iowa: The state Utilities Commission issued a permit to Summit Carbon Solutions, moving the company closer to building the Iowa portion of a proposed $8 billion plant to capture and remove harmful carbon dioxide emissions.

Kentucky: A renewable energy company has proposed a $712 million battery plant in Shelbyville. Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing, a subsidiary of global renewable energy company Canadian Solar, plans to support the production of utility scale energy storage through the manufacture of lithium-ion battery cells, battery packs and modules. Utilities use the batteries to store generated energy for later use.

Maryland: Ten years after gaining the rights to lease an area of the ocean along the coast of Maryland in the Mid-Atlantic for an offshore wind project, US Wind received federal approval to begin building turbines in the years to come. The installation could include 114 wind turbines up to 938 feet high, four offshore substation platforms and up to four cable corridors.

Restoring a river

Twenty-two years after a devastating fish kill on the Klamath River prompted the region's Tribes to launch a campaign to save the river, the last of four dams that nearly destroyed salmon populations was demolished last week, writes Debra Utacia Krol at the Republic. The demolition is hailed as "a significant victory" for the Tribes and the environment.

Mosquitoes on the move

Mosquitoes are the world's deadliest creature and mosquito-borne illnesses are a growing threat, Janet Loehrke explains in a graphic illustration on mosquito borne viruses in the nation. Scientists studying mosquitoes around the world are concerned about the impact warmer temperatures and flooding rainfall could have on the spread of mosquitoes that are vectors for such diseases as West Nile Virus, Dengue and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

Read on for the latest on what happened to hurricane season and a report that says winters are getting warmer on the Great Lakes. Sign up and get access to eNewspapers in the USA TODAY Network. If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox for free once a week, sign up here .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate Point: Hottest summer on record