The climate change-enhanced heat wave responsible for breaking dozens of records across the U.S. and Canada in the past two weeks is taking aim at areas from the Southeast to the Plains.
Why it matters: The move will bring extreme heat to tens of millions of people who have not experienced it yet, with resulting health hazards.
Two events this week will help shape energy and climate policy — a Supreme Court ruling and the Biden-Trump debate that could be a pivotal campaign moment.
Why it matters: SCOTUS will likely curtail executive powers to regulate without explicit congressional instruction.
Editor's note: Read the latest on the Midwest flooding here.
An expanding heat dome that's threatening much of the Lower 48 from the Central Plains eastward is also driving "major to historic" flooding in the Midwest, per the National Weather Service.
The big picture: Flood warnings and watches were in effect across the upper Midwest over the weekend for portions of Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa due to the extreme weather that's killed at least one person and resulted in hundreds of water rescues across the region.
At least 1,301 Muslim pilgrims have died during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia as the country experiences an extreme heat wave.
The big picture: That's according to Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel, who told state media that 83% of those who died were not authorized to perform the Hajj and had "walked long distances under direct sunlight without adequate shelter or comfort."
