Intense heat waves continue to grip much of the world, putting 2023 on track to become the hottest year on record. In Bolivia, the town of Villamontes reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, matching the hottest winter temperature on record in the Southern Hemisphere. Extreme wintertime heat is also gripping southern Africa, where temperature records were broken in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. And southern Europe is experiencing a historic late-summer heat wave with hundreds of monthly records falling across France, Portugal and Spain. Climate scientists warned this week 80% of Italy’s Alpine glaciers risk disappearing by 2060. This is Italian environmentalist Vanda Bonardo.

Vanda Bonardo: “We are here near the glacier, and it is not cold. On the contrary, the zero temperature is rising again these days. There is another heat wave above 5,000 meters. The ice is retreating. The snow that covered it is almost gone.”

Here in the United States, a relentless and historic heat wave is continuing with all-time temperature records tied or broken in cities including Houston and New Orleans on Thursday.