Axios PM

August 21, 2023
👋 Happy Monday afternoon. Today's PM — edited by Noah Bressner — is 572 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for the copy edit.
1 big thing: Previewing future summers

The era of simultaneous climate disasters is here to stay, Axios extreme weather expert Andrew Freedman writes.
- This new reality is now on full display from Texas to Canada.
🖼️ The big picture: Most observers did not have so many extreme weather events — all happening at the same time — on their climate change bingo card for 2023.
- Tropical Storm Hilary made a rare incursion into California, yielding flash flooding, mudslides and nearly unheard-of rainfall rates in the middle of the desert.
- The deadliest wildfire disaster in modern U.S. history struck Hawai'i, with links to climate change.
- In the central U.S., a record-breaking heat dome is spiking heat indices to staggering territory between the Twin Cities and Houston.
- Canada's worst wildfire season on record has forced evacuations and threatened heavily populated areas while sending plumes of smoke to the U.S. and Europe.

Zoom in: The climate impacts this summer are merely a preview of what the planet may look like after warming at least 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels — the threshold beyond which scientists say climate change could cause catastrophic damages.
- That has already been achieved, albeit briefly, bolstered by human-caused climate change and record-hot oceans. The picture that emerges is deadly, expensive and concerning.
🔮 What's next: The Atlantic hurricane season seems to be waking up from a long slumber.
2. 🎟️ Coming soon: $4 movie tickets
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Barbenheimer stragglers will get a chance to watch the blockbuster movies in theaters at a discount, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.
- National Cinema Day is returning on Aug. 27 with $4 movie tickets at 3,000+ theaters.
Why it matters: The movie industry was on the verge of collapse during the pandemic, but the smash success of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" gave it a big boost.
- 2023 is on track to be the best year for the box office since 2019, according to box-office data website The Numbers.
3. Catch me up

- Breaking: Former President Trump's bail has been set at $200,000 in the Georgia case over his alleged efforts to overturn 2020 election results. Keep reading.
- Firearm deaths among children in the U.S. rose 41.5% between 2018 and 2021, according to a study in Pediatrics. Keep reading.
- The House Freedom Caucus, with some of the most right-leaning Republicans in Congress, is making it more difficult for leadership to avoid a government shutdown. Keep reading.
- Michael Bloomberg appointed a slew of new C-suite executives to run his business empire. The changes call to question whether the 81-year-old is planning for the company's future without him. Keep reading.
4. 🎮 Voice of Mario retires

The iconic English-language voice behind Mario, Luigi, Wario and other Nintendo protagonists is "stepping back" from playing those roles, Axios Gaming author Stephen Totilo reports.
- Why it matters: Anyone who has played a Mario game since the late '90s has probably had Charles Martinet's "wa-hoos" imprinted in their brain.
Zoom in: Mario never said much in his various Nintendo games, but Martinet made the most out of the character's exuberant exhortations as he bounced through various interactive obstacle courses.
- Nintendo isn't saying who will take over as Mario going forward, telling Axios that players can check the credits of the next game in October.
🎧 Listen to Martinet: "It's-a Me, Mario!" ... Keep reading.
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