The Earth is running a fever pitch; extreme heat is sounding the alarm.
In late July, an unprecedented wildfire in southwestern France relentlessly advanced into urban areas. Within a very limited timeframe, French police went door-to-door, forcing 220,000 people to evacuate in the Gironde department alone. A similar scene unfolded across the Pyrenees, with flames licking at various parts of Spain. Firefighting aircraft circled overhead amidst the thick smoke, and the Spanish government declared a state of emergency.
Across Europe, fires continue to rage, and meteorologists attribute the cause to this year's prolonged extreme heatwave. Temperatures exceeding 40°C have dried and ignited forests, allowing fires to find an opportunity to spread into cities.
On July 28th, wildfires raged near Renton, France.
Breaking temperature records aren't limited to Europe. Thousands of miles away in Turpan, Xinjiang, the Ayding Lake station recorded a temperature exceeding 50°C on July 21st. Currently, throughout July, Turpan has only seen one day with a high temperature below 40°C. Looking at South Asia, temperatures exceeding 46°C in May caused a surge in electricity demand. Workers and machinery struggled to operate in the heat, impacting Bangladesh's textile industry and India's rice trade. In Southeast Asia, extreme heat plunged Javanese into a clean water crisis, and rice, entering its critical growing season, failed to thrive due to the persistent high temperatures and drought brought on by El Niño.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in the United States, heatwaves slowly spread from west to east. Railway tracks in several cities warped due to the extreme heat, and wildfires, food security threats, and grid strain also occurred.
In 2026, amidst localized wars and widespread conflict, the world has once again become a global village. But this time, the factors connecting countries and regions are not only economic and cultural exchanges, but also the increasingly frequent and intense extreme heatwaves.
On July 1, due to persistent high temperatures and little rainfall, Lake Vérence, a major lake in Hungary, recently suffered a severe drought.
From Europe to Asia, and then to the Americas, temperatures have exceeded the limits of human endurance. Along supply chains and infrastructure networks, through interdependent global trade, they have reached deeper into human society, finding those links in its operation that might be slightly weakened, and then attacking them fiercely.
Extreme heat is no longer just a climate issue; its impact extends beyond simply knocking down those exposed to the elements. It makes forests flammable, predictably reduces food production and causes price increases, puts greater pressure on power grids leading to a surge in industrial costs, and forces humanity to reallocate water resources, replan finances, and rethink how those in unequal circumstances can survive in high temperatures.
The temperature problem is transforming from a matter of food, energy, and water into a political, economic, and social issue.
This is a complex crisis testing human resilience. Worse still, the thermometer continues to rise, and extreme heatwaves are becoming increasingly frequent.
Since 2021, meteorologists' focus on high temperatures has shifted. They're no longer discussing whether temperatures could reach 50°C, but rather how humanity should prepare for it.
50°C is getting closer.
Around 2010, countries and regions where temperatures could potentially soar above 40°C were almost entirely located near the equator, roughly distributed around the subtropical high-pressure belt between 20-30° north and south latitude. In extreme geographical areas like the Sahara Desert or Death Valley in California, extreme heat records of 50°C weren't particularly unusual.
To some extent, over a decade ago, extreme heat was confined to specific regions. In most people's minds, 50°C was a number that only appeared in the heart of the desert, rarely discussed in cities or public discourse.
On June 24th, a temperature sign in Bilbao, Spain, showed a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius.
But today, extreme heat is "breaking" geographical limitations, appearing in mid-latitude regions.
In 2026, Western Europe, with its temperate maritime climate, recorded its hottest June on record. The term "hottest" was particularly apt, as countries like Germany, France, and Spain, which should have been hovering below 30°C, recorded temperatures exceeding 40°C.
By July, the heatwave in Western Europe hadn't improved. Britain was busy cooling down, preparing for the fourth heatwave of the year. The heat dome still loomed over France and Spain, who were racing against time to extinguish wildfires before the fourth heatwave arrived.
A similar situation occurred on the other side of Eurasia. Japan, also around 40°N latitude, experienced five consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 40°C in late July. This unusually prolonged heatwave led the Japanese to coin a new term: "scorching day."
Japan experiences extreme heatwaves, with Tokyo reporting a record number of heatstroke cases in a single day
While mid-latitude countries are adapting to higher temperatures, South Asia, traditionally a high-temperature region, has recently faced early-arriving monsoons and persistent heatwaves. Of course, the biggest challenge between 2026 and 2027 is the strong El Niño phenomenon.
But the changes in high temperatures aren't limited to spatial scales. If we characterize high temperatures over time, we find they are becoming increasingly frequent.
In 2003, Europe experienced a heatwave, which meteorologists defined as "the hottest year in Europe in 500 years." More than a decade later, what was then an isolated event has become a recurring phenomenon.
Europe experienced heatwaves comparable in scale to 2003 in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. In 2019, France broke the 46°C mark for the first time, and in 2022, the UK also broke the "impossible" 40°C mark for the first time. Temperatures once considered rare, perhaps only occurring once every ten or even a century, are now appearing before humanity with increasing frequency.
On July 29, 2026, local time, a display screen in a pharmacy in Paris, France, showed a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius.
The World Meteorological Organization's "Global Climate Status Report 2025" states that the period from 2015 to 2025 will be the 11 hottest years on record.
In other words, high temperatures are becoming more widespread and frequent. Humanity has never come so close to 50 degrees Celsius.
At this point, it's difficult to consider a particular high temperature in a particular year or place as an isolated event. When these points are connected, we should realize that extreme heat has become a global context that everyone must confront.
The test has just begun.
The words "extreme heat" often evoke images of heat, heatstroke, and death. These are the most easily "visible" forms of high temperatures. Therefore, the heatwave of 2026 first and foremost drew global attention by causing deaths.
According to statistics released by the French Public Health Agency on July 22, the number of deaths in France between June 17 and July 2 was 5,764 higher than normal. Although this death toll represents deaths from "all causes" and cannot be directly linked to the extreme heat, the French Public Health Agency stated that "this is the highest death toll since the devastating heatwave of 2003."
On July 29, 2026, in Paris, France, people sought refuge from extreme heat in the Tuileries Garden, where pharmacies displayed temperatures reaching 43 degrees Celsius.
Similarly, on July 22, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Fire and Disaster Management Agency announced that in the week of July 13 to July 19, 10,857 people nationwide sought medical attention for heatstroke, with 14 deaths and 321 in critical condition. In South Korea in July, three foreign workers died while working outdoors in high temperatures.
Like humans, crops are also directly impacted by repeated periods of high temperatures. High temperatures accelerate evaporation, causing soil moisture loss and increasing the demand for agricultural irrigation. In particular, the strong El Niño event in 2026 prolonged drought conditions. When crops encounter prolonged high temperatures and insufficient water during critical production periods, coupled with heat-induced pest and disease outbreaks, crop failure seems inevitable.
Nguyen Van Trung, a farmer in central Vietnam with one hectare of rice paddy, expressed extreme concern in an interview with foreign media. He had applied fertilizer three times this planting season to ensure the rice grew properly, "but the rice just won't grow because there isn't enough water."
But the real danger lies in the fact that this is not a situation faced by an isolated country.
India, the world's largest rice producer and exporter, has seen its monsoon rainfall decline by about one-sixth year-on-year since June, and the actual shortfall is widening. High temperatures have also affected the critical flowering period for corn. Expansiona predicts that France, Europe's largest agricultural producer, will see its corn production fall to its lowest level since 1990. Germany and the United States have both lowered their projected wheat and corn production, and since July, the EU's wheat exports have also declined.
On June 20, 2026, local time, drought-stricken farmland and cornfields in Saint-Marcel-les-Naïves, Ardèche, France, during a heatwave.
When high temperatures and drought affect a single crop, the problem may be confined to the field. However, when high temperatures become a constant global phenomenon, the pressure shifts from the withering plants themselves to the pressure on grain prices.
In June, the price of Thai rice, the "Asian benchmark" in international rice trade, continued to rise due to anticipated reduced production caused by the high temperatures. During the same period, data monitored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations showed that global rice prices rose by 3.2% month-on-month.
High temperatures are not limited to agriculture. When both humans and plants face the threat of death, it's natural to think of using electricity to create a cooling environment. Thus, during the heatwave, a debate erupted in Europe about whether air conditioning could be installed, while portable air conditioners swept through Japan.
But the risk lies here. When high temperatures become a state of affairs, does the existing energy system have the capacity to support it? It's important to understand that high temperatures increase grid load, and traditional energy sources like nuclear power require large amounts of water for cooling and circulation to generate electricity.
In early July, EDF (Électricité de France) temporarily shut down three nuclear reactors used for power generation and reduced output from seven other reactors due to excessively high river water temperatures. On the other side of the Atlantic, in the United States, under the "heat dome," power generation exceeded 100,000 GWh from June 28 to July 4, setting a new historical record.
On July 1, the Trump administration declared a grid emergency to address the high temperatures.
And energy pressures will further propagate along the supply chain. Rising electricity costs and unstable energy supplies will both become stumbling blocks to industrial production.
However, food and energy remain the most easily observable aspects. In less noticed places where water plays a crucial role, such as metal smelters, refrigeration plants, and artificial intelligence data centers, high temperatures continue to have a negative impact.
Starting with a person, a drop of water, a grain of rice, a unit of electricity, or a piece of copper, at the very top of the supply chain, high temperatures become a risk multiplier. The intertwined supply chains will carry increasingly higher risks to even more distant destinations.
Perhaps few people have considered that one of the endpoints of a heatwave is the shelf.
Economists have coined the term "climate inflation." It refers to how climate change drives up the global cost of goods, services, and living expenses, thereby affecting the inflation rate.
Understanding this logic requires piecing together multiple pieces of the puzzle. Extreme heat can trigger droughts, affecting crop and livestock growth, increasing the risk of infectious diseases like dengue fever, and simultaneously causing a decline in labor productivity, reducing industrial production efficiency by impacting the supply of various resources. Both of these factors will affect the livelihoods of farmers and workers, while simultaneously, people will face rising living costs.
On June 23, people left a store in Paris, France, after purchasing electric fans.
In the daily lives of ordinary people, rising living costs manifest in tangible ways: soaring utility bills, increased prices for meat, eggs, grains, vegetables, fruits, coffee, and beer in supermarkets, or rising transportation costs (railway tracks require more maintenance due to deformation caused by high temperatures).
All of this ultimately penetrates deeper into society: exacerbating inequality.
High temperatures are equal for everyone, but different groups have different conditions for protecting themselves from them. For example, some jobs that can afford the high electricity costs of air conditioning can still work in relatively comfortable environments, while farmers, sanitation workers, and construction workers are forced to expose themselves to the risks of high temperatures.
High temperatures amplify the impact of job nature, economic status, population density, and health conditions on human living space, thus potentially widening inequality.
In 2026, Schleypen and Jessie Ruth, researchers at the International Centre for Security and Development Studies, along with other researchers, published a study concluding that extreme heat has a more severe economic impact on low-income groups: the poorest 20% of households experienced a 2.7 percentage point greater income decline during periods of extreme heat than the wealthiest 20%.
This is a chain reaction that accumulates over time in the course of society. Climate change does not directly destroy a city or a country; its relationship with human society is more like one of erosion.
On June 22, pedestrians in Paris, France, used misting systems to cool down.
If every small system, such as agriculture, energy, and industry, is designed with sufficient "safety redundancy," then the impact of extreme heat can be confined to each small system, preventing it from spreading further downstream or outward. Unfortunately, in addition to extreme heat, humanity also faces energy, food supply, and financial risks stemming from war and political struggles.
Just like the farmers in the fields of South Asia, they worry not only about high temperatures, drought, and El Niño, but also about rising fertilizer and diesel prices due to war—the latter being the basic fuel needed for irrigation pumps. They complain about not having enough money to invest in their fields, yet simultaneously face a sharp decline in income.
This is another reason why economists and meteorologists are so concerned about this heat wave. When multiple systems that sustain human society are already in an unstable state, how much capacity do they have left to withstand the impact of high temperatures? Especially since high temperatures attack every small system indiscriminately and "equally."
While war is already relentlessly ravaging food, energy, industry, and people, the 50°C temperatures that have already appeared in sight are actually testing the resilience of human society.
The Earth is running a fever pitch; extreme heat is sounding the alarm.
In late July, an unprecedented wildfire in southwestern France relentlessly advanced into urban areas. Within a very limited timeframe, French police went door-to-door, forcing 220,000 people to evacuate in the Gironde department alone. A similar scene unfolded across the Pyrenees, with flames licking at various parts of Spain. Firefighting aircraft circled overhead amidst the thick smoke, and the Spanish government declared a state of emergency.
Across Europe, fires continue to rage, and meteorologists attribute the cause to this year's prolonged extreme heatwave. Temperatures exceeding 40°C have dried and ignited forests, allowing fires to find an opportunity to spread into cities.
On July 28th, wildfires raged near Renton, France.
Breaking temperature records aren't limited to Europe. Thousands of miles away in Turpan, Xinjiang, the Ayding Lake station recorded a temperature exceeding 50°C on July 21st. Currently, throughout July, Turpan has only seen one day with a high temperature below 40°C. Looking at South Asia, temperatures exceeding 46°C in May caused a surge in electricity demand. Workers and machinery struggled to operate in the heat, impacting Bangladesh's textile industry and India's rice trade. In Southeast Asia, extreme heat plunged Javanese into a clean water crisis, and rice, entering its critical growing season, failed to thrive due to the persistent high temperatures and drought brought on by El Niño.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in the United States, heatwaves slowly spread from west to east. Railway tracks in several cities warped due to the extreme heat, and wildfires, food security threats, and grid strain also occurred.
In 2026, amidst localized wars and widespread conflict, the world has once again become a global village. But this time, the factors connecting countries and regions are not only economic and cultural exchanges, but also the increasingly frequent and intense extreme heatwaves.
On July 1, due to persistent high temperatures and little rainfall, Lake Vérence, a major lake in Hungary, recently suffered a severe drought.
From Europe to Asia, and then to the Americas, temperatures have exceeded the limits of human endurance. Along supply chains and infrastructure networks, through interdependent global trade, they have reached deeper into human society, finding those links in its operation that might be slightly weakened, and then attacking them fiercely.
Extreme heat is no longer just a climate issue; its impact extends beyond simply knocking down those exposed to the elements. It makes forests flammable, predictably reduces food production and causes price increases, puts greater pressure on power grids leading to a surge in industrial costs, and forces humanity to reallocate water resources, replan finances, and rethink how those in unequal circumstances can survive in high temperatures.
The temperature problem is transforming from a matter of food, energy, and water into a political, economic, and social issue.
This is a complex crisis testing human resilience. Worse still, the thermometer continues to rise, and extreme heatwaves are becoming increasingly frequent.
Since 2021, meteorologists' focus on high temperatures has shifted. They're no longer discussing whether temperatures could reach 50°C, but rather how humanity should prepare for it.
50°C is getting closer.
Around 2010, countries and regions where temperatures could potentially soar above 40°C were almost entirely located near the equator, roughly distributed around the subtropical high-pressure belt between 20-30° north and south latitude. In extreme geographical areas like the Sahara Desert or Death Valley in California, extreme heat records of 50°C weren't particularly unusual.
To some extent, over a decade ago, extreme heat was confined to specific regions. In most people's minds, 50°C was a number that only appeared in the heart of the desert, rarely discussed in cities or public discourse.
On June 24th, a temperature sign in Bilbao, Spain, showed a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius.
But today, extreme heat is "breaking" geographical limitations, appearing in mid-latitude regions.
In 2026, Western Europe, with its temperate maritime climate, recorded its hottest June on record. The term "hottest" was particularly apt, as countries like Germany, France, and Spain, which should have been hovering below 30°C, recorded temperatures exceeding 40°C.
By July, the heatwave in Western Europe hadn't improved. Britain was busy cooling down, preparing for the fourth heatwave of the year. The heat dome still loomed over France and Spain, who were racing against time to extinguish wildfires before the fourth heatwave arrived.
A similar situation occurred on the other side of Eurasia. Japan, also around 40°N latitude, experienced five consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 40°C in late July. This unusually prolonged heatwave led the Japanese to coin a new term: "scorching day."
Japan experiences extreme heatwaves, with Tokyo reporting a record number of heatstroke cases in a single day
While mid-latitude countries are adapting to higher temperatures, South Asia, traditionally a high-temperature region, has recently faced early-arriving monsoons and persistent heatwaves. Of course, the biggest challenge between 2026 and 2027 is the strong El Niño phenomenon.
But the changes in high temperatures aren't limited to spatial scales. If we characterize high temperatures over time, we find they are becoming increasingly frequent.
In 2003, Europe experienced a heatwave, which meteorologists defined as "the hottest year in Europe in 500 years." More than a decade later, what was then an isolated event has become a recurring phenomenon.
Europe experienced heatwaves comparable in scale to 2003 in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. In 2019, France broke the 46°C mark for the first time, and in 2022, the UK also broke the "impossible" 40°C mark for the first time. Temperatures once considered rare, perhaps only occurring once every ten or even a century, are now appearing before humanity with increasing frequency.
On July 29, 2026, local time, a display screen in a pharmacy in Paris, France, showed a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius.
The World Meteorological Organization's "Global Climate Status Report 2025" states that the period from 2015 to 2025 will be the 11 hottest years on record.
In other words, high temperatures are becoming more widespread and frequent. Humanity has never come so close to 50 degrees Celsius.
At this point, it's difficult to consider a particular high temperature in a particular year or place as an isolated event. When these points are connected, we should realize that extreme heat has become a global context that everyone must confront.
The test has just begun.
The words "extreme heat" often evoke images of heat, heatstroke, and death. These are the most easily "visible" forms of high temperatures. Therefore, the heatwave of 2026 first and foremost drew global attention by causing deaths.
According to statistics released by the French Public Health Agency on July 22, the number of deaths in France between June 17 and July 2 was 5,764 higher than normal. Although this death toll represents deaths from "all causes" and cannot be directly linked to the extreme heat, the French Public Health Agency stated that "this is the highest death toll since the devastating heatwave of 2003."
On July 29, 2026, in Paris, France, people sought refuge from extreme heat in the Tuileries Garden, where pharmacies displayed temperatures reaching 43 degrees Celsius.
Similarly, on July 22, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Fire and Disaster Management Agency announced that in the week of July 13 to July 19, 10,857 people nationwide sought medical attention for heatstroke, with 14 deaths and 321 in critical condition. In South Korea in July, three foreign workers died while working outdoors in high temperatures.
Like humans, crops are also directly impacted by repeated periods of high temperatures. High temperatures accelerate evaporation, causing soil moisture loss and increasing the demand for agricultural irrigation. In particular, the strong El Niño event in 2026 prolonged drought conditions. When crops encounter prolonged high temperatures and insufficient water during critical production periods, coupled with heat-induced pest and disease outbreaks, crop failure seems inevitable.
Nguyen Van Trung, a farmer in central Vietnam with one hectare of rice paddy, expressed extreme concern in an interview with foreign media. He had applied fertilizer three times this planting season to ensure the rice grew properly, "but the rice just won't grow because there isn't enough water."
But the real danger lies in the fact that this is not a situation faced by an isolated country.
India, the world's largest rice producer and exporter, has seen its monsoon rainfall decline by about one-sixth year-on-year since June, and the actual shortfall is widening. High temperatures have also affected the critical flowering period for corn. Expansiona predicts that France, Europe's largest agricultural producer, will see its corn production fall to its lowest level since 1990. Germany and the United States have both lowered their projected wheat and corn production, and since July, the EU's wheat exports have also declined.
On June 20, 2026, local time, drought-stricken farmland and cornfields in Saint-Marcel-les-Naïves, Ardèche, France, during a heatwave.
When high temperatures and drought affect a single crop, the problem may be confined to the field. However, when high temperatures become a constant global phenomenon, the pressure shifts from the withering plants themselves to the pressure on grain prices.
In June, the price of Thai rice, the "Asian benchmark" in international rice trade, continued to rise due to anticipated reduced production caused by the high temperatures. During the same period, data monitored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations showed that global rice prices rose by 3.2% month-on-month.
High temperatures are not limited to agriculture. When both humans and plants face the threat of death, it's natural to think of using electricity to create a cooling environment. Thus, during the heatwave, a debate erupted in Europe about whether air conditioning could be installed, while portable air conditioners swept through Japan.
But the risk lies here. When high temperatures become a state of affairs, does the existing energy system have the capacity to support it? It's important to understand that high temperatures increase grid load, and traditional energy sources like nuclear power require large amounts of water for cooling and circulation to generate electricity.
In early July, EDF (Électricité de France) temporarily shut down three nuclear reactors used for power generation and reduced output from seven other reactors due to excessively high river water temperatures. On the other side of the Atlantic, in the United States, under the "heat dome," power generation exceeded 100,000 GWh from June 28 to July 4, setting a new historical record.
On July 1, the Trump administration declared a grid emergency to address the high temperatures.
And energy pressures will further propagate along the supply chain. Rising electricity costs and unstable energy supplies will both become stumbling blocks to industrial production.
However, food and energy remain the most easily observable aspects. In less noticed places where water plays a crucial role, such as metal smelters, refrigeration plants, and artificial intelligence data centers, high temperatures continue to have a negative impact.
Starting with a person, a drop of water, a grain of rice, a unit of electricity, or a piece of copper, at the very top of the supply chain, high temperatures become a risk multiplier. The intertwined supply chains will carry increasingly higher risks to even more distant destinations.
Perhaps few people have considered that one of the endpoints of a heatwave is the shelf.
Economists have coined the term "climate inflation." It refers to how climate change drives up the global cost of goods, services, and living expenses, thereby affecting the inflation rate.
Understanding this logic requires piecing together multiple pieces of the puzzle. Extreme heat can trigger droughts, affecting crop and livestock growth, increasing the risk of infectious diseases like dengue fever, and simultaneously causing a decline in labor productivity, reducing industrial production efficiency by impacting the supply of various resources. Both of these factors will affect the livelihoods of farmers and workers, while simultaneously, people will face rising living costs.
On June 23, people left a store in Paris, France, after purchasing electric fans.
In the daily lives of ordinary people, rising living costs manifest in tangible ways: soaring utility bills, increased prices for meat, eggs, grains, vegetables, fruits, coffee, and beer in supermarkets, or rising transportation costs (railway tracks require more maintenance due to deformation caused by high temperatures).
All of this ultimately penetrates deeper into society: exacerbating inequality.
High temperatures are equal for everyone, but different groups have different conditions for protecting themselves from them. For example, some jobs that can afford the high electricity costs of air conditioning can still work in relatively comfortable environments, while farmers, sanitation workers, and construction workers are forced to expose themselves to the risks of high temperatures.
High temperatures amplify the impact of job nature, economic status, population density, and health conditions on human living space, thus potentially widening inequality.
In 2026, Schleypen and Jessie Ruth, researchers at the International Centre for Security and Development Studies, along with other researchers, published a study concluding that extreme heat has a more severe economic impact on low-income groups: the poorest 20% of households experienced a 2.7 percentage point greater income decline during periods of extreme heat than the wealthiest 20%.
This is a chain reaction that accumulates over time in the course of society. Climate change does not directly destroy a city or a country; its relationship with human society is more like one of erosion.
On June 22, pedestrians in Paris, France, used misting systems to cool down.
If every small system, such as agriculture, energy, and industry, is designed with sufficient "safety redundancy," then the impact of extreme heat can be confined to each small system, preventing it from spreading further downstream or outward. Unfortunately, in addition to extreme heat, humanity also faces energy, food supply, and financial risks stemming from war and political struggles.
Just like the farmers in the fields of South Asia, they worry not only about high temperatures, drought, and El Niño, but also about rising fertilizer and diesel prices due to war—the latter being the basic fuel needed for irrigation pumps. They complain about not having enough money to invest in their fields, yet simultaneously face a sharp decline in income.
This is another reason why economists and meteorologists are so concerned about this heat wave. When multiple systems that sustain human society are already in an unstable state, how much capacity do they have left to withstand the impact of high temperatures? Especially since high temperatures attack every small system indiscriminately and "equally."
While war is already relentlessly ravaging food, energy, industry, and people, the 50°C temperatures that have already appeared in sight are actually testing the resilience of human society.
