Axios

Deadly wildfires burning across Europe, North America and North Africa have forced hundreds of people to evacuate as historic heat grips much of the Northern Hemisphere.

The big picture: New research shows this month's extreme weather would've been "virtually impossible" without human-driven climate change. Wildfires and climate change are intricately linked as warmer temperatures lead to more extreme fire weather days and drier vegetation that's more likely to burn.

A key element driving the Atlantic Ocean may dramatically slow down — and then turn off completely — during the next few decades, a new study finds.

Why it matters: The circulation, known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), includes the Gulf Stream.

• Part of a "global conveyor belt" that moves water around the world, the AMOC helps to regulate everything from the rate of sea level rise on the East Coast to Europe's average temperatures.

Demystifying science can help create more enthusiasm for the field and inspire more people from diverse backgrounds to become scientists, astrophysicist Regina G. Barber tells Axios Latino.

Why it matters: While the STEM workforce has in recent years become more diverse, people of color are still underrepresented.

Record-breaking, deadly heat in the U.S. and Europe would have been "virtually impossible" in a world without human-driven climate change, according to new data published early Tuesday.

Why it matters: The findings show society is more vulnerable than previously thought to relatively low levels of warming.

The University of South Florida said Monday its researchers have transported some 1,500 coral specimens to tanks on land as "unprecedented heat waves and escalating water temperatures" create "a massive coral bleaching event."

Why it matters: Coral reefs provide shelter for over 25% of ocean animals, and are economically key to over half a billion people's livelihoods.

Registered Republicans experienced a "significantly higher" rate of excess deaths than Democrats in Florida and Ohio in the months after COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available, a new study has found.

Why it matters: The Yale researchers note in their study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine Monday, the findings "suggest that well-documented differences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters may have been a factor in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic."