Why the 2025 summer heat wave could be the most dangerous in decades
An increase in temperatures could spell trouble for many across the globe.
Hotter temperatures are expected to strike the Northern Hemisphere over the next few months in what could become the most dangerous summer heatwave in years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that the summer of 2025 will bring above-average temperatures across much of the United States, with the East Coast, southern Plains, and the West at greatest risk.
For June, July, and August, NOAA has forecasted significantly higher temperatures, with increases of up to 2 or even 3 degrees Celsius expected in some areas.
However, this surge in heat may extend into September, as human-driven climate change continues to have unprecedented consequences for the health of our planet.
‘Millions will face a looming tropical threat’
ABC reported that between June and August of last year, we experienced “the warmest summer on record for the Northern Hemisphere, beating the previous record set in 2023 by 0.66 degrees Celsius, or 1.19 degrees Fahrenheit" while AccuWeather warned that “millions will face a summer of thunderstorms and a looming tropical threat.”
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus—the European Union’s Climate Change Service—warned: “The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Copernicus also noted that “atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane continued to increase” last year, adding that “since the 1980s, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest-warming continent on Earth.”
The British Met Office said that “the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer“, and “heatwave conditions could be reached at times.”
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