When will the heat end? Never. | CNN

A construction worker drinks water as temperatures soar in Atlanta on Monday, June 24, 2024. CNN — Summer is off to a sweltering start after multiple record-breaking heat events sent temperatures soaring for millions of people in the US. So when will it end? Forecasts for the coming weeks and months show exceptional heat is largely here to stay, with only fleeting periods of respite. And the sobering summer reality on a planet warming due to fossil fuel pollution is the heat isn’t going anywhere – it’s only going to get more frequent and intense as global temperatures rise. “Summers like the one we are experiencing now and the summer we had last year – which was the hottest on record – are going to become par for the course in the years ahead,” said Kristina Dahl, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. A sign of things to come There will still be colder-than-average summers in the future, but climate change is making it likelier more summers will end up hotter-than...