CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here’s what you need to see and know today

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (1133 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As intense heat batters much of the planet, people cool off however they can. In Pasadena, California, where Wednesday’s high was “only” in the mid-90s, seniors found relief — and some fun — in a morning swim class in this image made by Associated Press photographer Ryan Sun.

Elsewhere, things were more serious. As southern Europe bakes under a heat wave, firefighters in Greece continued battle Wednesday with wildfires near Athens that have prompted days of evacuations. Aircraft and crews from other countries were heading to join the fight. Heat in southern Greece was expected to grow worse later this week, approaching 44 Celsius (111 Fahrenheit).

Here’s what’s happening related to extreme weather and the climate right now:

—In Texas, crushing heat is raising concern for families with loved ones in state prisons that lack air conditioning. One woman blames her son’s death on excessive heat, Juan A. Lozano reports.

—As destructive floods hammer different parts of the globe, scientists say they have something in common: Climate change that has storms forming in a warmer atmosphere with the result that extreme rainfall is more frequent now. And they say additional warming will make it worse. Isabella O’Malley, Brittany Peterson and Drew Costley explain.

— The world’s two biggest climate polluters, China and the United States, met in Beijing to talk about climate change. China’s vice president told U.S. climate envoy John Kerry that the country is willing to work with Washington to stem global warming, but needs the U.S. to respect its views on a range of issues. More here.

— Nigeria is looking at a food security crisis driven by conflict and climate change. Russia’s war with Ukraine imperils shipments of wheat to the West African nation, and a vicious heat-and-rain cycle worsened by climate change is decimating yields for Nigeria’s own farmers, Taiwo Adebayo reports.

—As Canada’s summer of wildfires stretches on, Indigenous communities are among those hardest-hit — far more likely to be evacuated than their share of the population suggests. Tammy Webber and Noah Berger explain.

—India, one of the most populous and climate-vulnerable countries, is thinking and talking a lot about transitioning to cleaner energy. Anupam Nath and Sibi Arasu report on how India is searching for key minerals at home.

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QUOTABLE:

“They’re cooking our inmates in the Texas prison system,” said Tona Southards Naranjo, who believes her son, Jon Southards, died last month due to high heat in a Huntsville prison.

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