Summary of the day
Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
Huge swaths of the US continue to face extreme weather as temperatures persist into the triple digits in the south and south-west while smoke pollution is blighting the midwest.
At least 13 people have died in Texas due to heat-related illnesses, according to officials. Eleven of the Texas heat-related deaths occurred in Webb county, which includes Laredo.
More than 120 million people in the US are under air quality alerts, according to analysis by CNN. The latest figure accounts for the addition of the New York City and Philadelphia areas.
Pennsylvania’s department of environmental protection has declared a “code red” air quality alert for the entire state due to smoke from Canadian wildfires.
For a second day in a row, Chicago and Detroit have some of the worst air quality in the world. The smoke from Canadian wildfires is exacerbating air quality issues for poor and minority communities, who are more likely to live near polluting plants and have higher rates of asthma.
Record-setting heat in Texas has sent hundreds of people to emergency rooms in recent weeks, according to state health officials.
This year’s wildfire season is the worst on record in Canada, with some 76,000 sq km (29,000 sq miles) burning across eastern and western Canada. With much of Canada still experiencing unusually warm and dry conditions, “there’s still no end in sight”, Copernicus senior scientist Mark Parrington said.
Updated
At least 21 people have died as a result of an ongoing heatwave in northern Mexico, CNN is reporting, citing local health officials.
According to a statement from the Tamaulipas state’s secretary of health, there are currently 29 people in emergency rooms in Tamaulipas hospitals run by the Mexican Social Security Institute.
Mexico has seen record-breaking temperatures for more than 10 days, while the cities of Monclova and Chihuahua have set all-time record temperatures of 46C (115F) and 41C (107F), respectively.
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