It’s Not Just You: Summer Heat Is Getting Worse

Politicians, banks, and businesses may not want to talk about climate change in 2026, but there’s no way not to talk about the relentless, crushing heat. 

First the record-breaking heatwaves baking Europe and Southeast Asia. Then millions of Americans across 20 states spent the Fourth of July trapped under a heat dome with temperatures breaking 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Summers are hot. That’s kind of the nature of the season. But if you’re like a lot of Americans, it’s hard to escape the feeling that the heatwaves are a whole lot hotter and more punishing than they used to be. 

And here’s the thing, you’re right. 

Not only are the past 11 years the hottest 11 years on record, but research confirms that heatwaves like the ones we’re living through now are becoming longer, hotter, and more frequent. And scientists have no doubt why.  

Burning Fossil Fuels Is Making the Planet Warmer  

Despite decades of efforts by the global climate community, the world keeps burning more and more coal, oil, and gas, leading to greenhouse gas emissions hitting a new record of 35.8 million metric tons in 2025. 

The result is that global average temperatures have risen nearly 1.5 degrees Celsius since the industrial age began and the world started burning fossil fuels on a massive scale.  

Critically, recent research quantifies just how much of that temperature rise correlates to increasing fossil fuel emissions, showing over 1 degree of the nearly 1.5 degrees of warming is traceable to oil, coal, and gas use.  

Summers Are Getting Dangerous and Expensive  

There can be the temptation to brush off heatwaves as merely unpleasant or inconvenient, but it’s worth remembering that heat is the No.1 weather-related cause of death worldwide .  

Heat causes an estimated 500 premature deaths each year in New York City alone. The recent heatwave in Europe claimed over 1,000 lives in Spain and an estimated 1,000 more in France . In France, more than 90 people have drowned since the heatwave began, many of them young people taking to rivers and waterways to cool off, according to the nation’s sports and youth minister .  

 These numbers will likely keep climbing as other nations report. Worse, heat typically hits senior populations and lower-income communities without access to air conditioning especially hard.  

Speaking of air conditioning, keeping cool amid such punishing heat is getting more and more expensive, deepening the affordability crisis already keeping many awake at night. With energy bills up an average of 18% since January 2025 across the nation, Americans are increasingly worried about the cost of the air conditioning they need to stay cool and safe. In a cruel cosmic twist, the growing use of air conditioners not just in the US but worldwide is leading to even more fossil fuel use for energy and greenhouse gas emissions and heat , increasing the need for more air conditioning (and on and on).  

We know how we got here. We know what to do to get out.  

At Climate Reality, the tired joke is that summer is Americans Care About Climate Change Season. No wonder why. It’s one thing to read a statistic about what a warming planet means for you. It’s another to step outside and immediately feel the heat smack you in the face.  

We know where this is going. Maybe one of the best ways to think about summer heat and what’s ahead comes from “The Simpsons Movie.” In one of the many best scenes in the movie, Bart complains, “This is the worst day of my life.”  

Homer kneels down, puts his fatherly arm on Bart’s shoulder, and smiling, says, “The worst day of your life so far .”  

But there is a reason for hope in all this. There’s no secret about the fossil fuels that got us here and are turning summer into a season we survive instead of savoring. By the same token, we know how to slow and even stop rising temperatures: Stop burning fossil fuels.   

The good news is that the clean energy solutions to do it are here today and the cheapest form of new electricity almost everywhere . Which is to say, the power to change is in our hands and what comes next is up to us. So maybe it’s time for politicians, businesses, banks, and all of us to start talking about climate seriously again. And then get to work.  

We’re working to accelerate a just transition to affordable, abundant, and reliable clean energy. Learn what you can do to help .