Weird Weather Watch: Deadly European Heat Wave

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Remember the ’80s hit by Midnight Oil, “Beds Are Burning”? The Aussie song posits with some disbelief that the “western desert lives and breathes in 45 degrees.” (That’s Celsius, y’all.) Singer-turned-politician Peter Garrett would be even more stunned to learn that southern Europe lived, breathed, and tried to sleep in 45 degrees this week. That’s 113 Fahrenheit, in a region where air conditioners are less common even than Oreos. Greece, Bosnia, and Macedonia suffered most. In Hungary, the mercury hit 107 degrees, causing at least 500 heat-related deaths. Sound like fun? Try adding in several deadly fires and another record-breaking heat wave last month. So next time you hear “next year will be the hottest on record,” don’t plan on summering it away in Greece.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate