JUDY WOODRUFF: Continental Europe is baking from an early summer heat wave that is expected
to last through the weekend.
Government authorities are warning about health risks.
And, as William Brangham reports, record temperatures are making for sweltering conditions in many
cities where air conditioning is not common.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The children seem to be enjoying splashing in fountains in Spain today,
but underneath the bustle of summertime fun are families desperate to cool down.
WOMAN (through translator): People like to stay in the swimming pool, river.
There are no other solutions.
Some even go to shopping malls to stay away from the heat.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Temperatures here surged to a record 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
People are struggling to escape the unprecedented heat day and night.
MAN (through translator): The most annoying thing is not being able to rest.
You can't sleep well at nights because you would always feel hot and wake up.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In France, classrooms are empty after officials closed or restricted
some 4,000 schools as a safety precaution.
Today was France's hottest day on record.
Temperatures there reached over 113 degrees.
A heat wave from sub-Saharan Africa has spread across large parts of Europe all
week.
The system spans from the U.K. to Italy to the Czech Republic.
In Berlin, police deployed water cannons to salvage dying grass and trees.
In Catalonia, firefighters struggled to control a wildfire under scorching temperatures.
Tonight, Paris was baking as the U.S. women's soccer team defeated France at the World Cup.
While it's difficult to attribute any particular weather event to climate change, there's growing
evidence that climate change is changing the way the jet stream flows, and that can make
these events worse.
Michael Mann is at atmospheric scientist at Penn State University.
MICHAEL MANN, Penn State University: This extreme heat is due to the fact we're seeing
these really large wiggles in the jet stream.
The jet stream is slowing down, so these high and low pressure systems get stuck in place.
And where you get one of these high pressure systems stuck in place, like we saw last year
in California, you get extreme heat, extreme drought and wildfire for days or even weeks
on end.
We're seeing the same thing happen this summer and in particular right now in Europe.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: These unprecedented temperatures this early in the summer are a direct threat
to human life.
Spanish authorities say the heat has already contributed to at least two deaths.
Experts warn that toll is likely to increase.
JULIO DIAZ JIMENEZ, National School of Health (through translator): If temperatures increase
today, the rates of mortality will start to increase tomorrow.
So if a heat wave lasts for three or four days, you will see an accumulated impact of
the increase in mortality for three or four days after it's gone.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Many Europeans know that risk all too well.
In 2003, as many as 70,000 people died across the continent due to what were then record-breaking
temperatures.
But those deadly records were broken again this week, and experts warn this heat wave
could be evidence of a move into uncharted waters.
CHRISTELLE ROBERT, Meteo France (through translator): A heat wave of this amplitude in June is exceptional.
We have experienced this in the past already, but it wasn't this intense.
We should expect more intense and frequent heat waves with climate change, because it
will accentuate the extremes.
MICHAEL MANN: I would like to say what we're seeing is a new normal, but it's worse than
that, because a new normal implies that we sort of have arrived in a new regime and we
just have to figure out how to deal with that new regime.
That's not what's happening here.
We will continue to see these sorts of conditions more often and they will because more pronounced,
if we continue to warm the planet, if we continue to melt the Arctic.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.