We Just Had the Hottest Summer on Record in the Northern Hemisphere
Why This Record-Breaking Summer Needs to Be a Wake-Up Call For All Of Us
Los Angeles isn’t exactly known for its mild summers. Growing up in The Valley (San Fernando), those fateful months of every childhood year were spent hiding in neighborhood pools, running through summer camp sprinklers, and sitting in the back of minivans in bumper-to-bumper traffic trekking towards sandy shores along the coast. As a young kid, I lamented the thermostat reporting a balmy 90° Fahrenheit ( 32° C) day — or god-forbid the temperature climbed up to 100° F (38° C).
All this is to say, Los Angelenes are not unfamiliar with heat — many transplants to the city show up for that very reason. The climate is comfortable for folks who like it a little warm (or who love staying indoors and running their high-quality central air conditioning systems). But, my most recent visit made me feel nostalgic for those once-considered high LA temperatures. In early September, the weather in San Fernando hit 111° (43°) near noon. The next day, it climbed to 114° (46°). In some areas of SoCal, it climbed to a record-breaking 121° F (50°)
As I sweltered in uncharacteristically high Los Angeles heat, the same heat was scorching other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, where…
