US cities prepare for extreme temperatures as heat dome blankets country
June 20 (Reuters) - Major cities across the United States are preparing for extreme temperatures caused by a heat dome that hit the U.S. Plains on Friday and is expected to expand to much of the rest of the country over the coming days.
Potentially dangerous temperatures of 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) or over are expected this weekend in parts of the Midwest, including Chicago, before spreading to the Ohio Valley and much of the East Coast towards the start of next week, according to the National Weather Service.
A heat dome is a ridge of high-pressure air in the upper atmosphere that stalls and traps hot air while keeping cooler air away even at night.
In preparation, Chicago is opening cooling centers across the city, Mayor Brandon Johnson told a news conference on Friday. City workers are also checking on people who are homeless living in camps, urging them to go to a cooling center.
"Chicago knows better than any other city in America of the danger of extreme weather, particularly extreme heat," said Johnson, referring to the upcoming 30-year anniversary of a heat wave that killed 700 Chicagoans.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged residents to locate their nearest cooling center. Adams said the city would open up an extensive network of cooling centers and was working to distribute heat safety information to vulnerable residents.
Heat affects health in several ways. Heat exhaustion, which can include dizziness, headaches, shaking and thirst, can affect anyone, and is not usually serious, providing the person cools down within 30 minutes.
The more serious version is heatstroke, when the body's core temperature goes above 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degrees Celsius). It is a medical emergency and can lead to long-term organ damage and death. Symptoms include rapid breathing, confusion or seizures, and nausea.
Heat advisories were already in effect across cities in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas on Friday, with temperatures in Denver, Colorado, expected to rise to 100 degrees Fahrenheit by 3 p.m.
Some of the highest temperatures on Friday are expected in towns close to the Nebraska-Kansas border, with those in Kansas's St. Francis and Oberlin, and McCook, Nebraska, likely to rise to 105 degrees and over before the end of the day, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters say it is difficult to link record-breaking heat experienced across the United States in recent years to human-induced climate change, but such extremes are becoming more frequent because of global warming.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
Novo Nordisk's experimental drug results in up to 24% weight loss
June 20 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk ( opens new tab on Friday said full results from early-stage trials show that its experimental drug, amycretin, helped overweight and obese adults lose up to 24% of their weight as the Danish company readies for late-stage studies, opens new tab to start next year. The company said side effects of the drug, tested as both a weekly injection and a daily pill, were mostly gastrointestinal with rates similar to other recent weight loss drugs. The full trial results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago and published in the Lancet medical journal. Novo's head of development Martin Holst Lange said the Phase 3 amycretin program starting in 2026 will run "for a couple of years" after which the regulatory review process could start. The company earlier this month said it planned to start late-stage trials of the drug in the first quarter of 2026 after previously announcing the early-stage trial results. Amycretin has a dual-mode action. Like Novo's popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, it mimics the gut hormone GLP-1, but also targets receptors for a hunger-suppressing pancreatic hormone called amylin. Trial results showed that 20-milligram weekly injections of the drug helped overweight or obese patients without diabetes lose 22% of their weight over 36 weeks, with a 60-mg dose resulting in 24.3% weight loss. In the Phase 1 study of once-daily oral amycretin, patients received increasing doses, ranging from 3 mg to a final dose of 100 mg. Patients who took 50 mg of amycretin at the end of the 12-week trial reduced body weight by 10.4% on average, while those taking the maximum dose lost 13.1% of their weight, the company said. Novo said the weight loss did not plateau, suggesting that longer treatment could lead to greater weight loss. In a Lancet commentary, researchers not involved in the amycretin studies said that "while additional weight loss is welcome and helpful, our evolving concept of obesity management has now shifted towards an emphasis on the reduction of the risks and burdens of cardiovascular disease and other comorbidities." Commentators Tricia Tan, professor of metabolic medicine and endocrinology at Imperial College London, and endocrinologist Dr. Bernard Khoo, said studies directly comparing GLP-1 drugs like Novo's Ozempic to drugs like amycretin will be needed to definitively establish their added value and place in obesity management.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Nearly 600 heat-related deaths expected in UK heatwave, researchers estimate
Nearly 600 people in England and Wales are predicted to die as a result of this week's heatwave, researchers have found. Experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London used decades of UK data to predict excess mortality during the hot temperatures from Thursday to Sunday. Their study, released on Saturday, forecasts that around 570 people will die because of the heat over the four days. The excess deaths are estimated to peak at 266 on Saturday when the heat will be at its most intense. London is predicted to have the greatest number of excess deaths with 129. The researchers said their assessment highlights how extreme heat poses a growing threat to public health in the UK. It follows a World Weather Attribution (WWA) research group study published on Friday which found the heatwave has been made about 100 times more likely and 2-4C hotter due to climate change. Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, lecturer at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, said: 'Heatwaves are silent killers – people who lose their lives in them typically have pre-existing health conditions and rarely have heat listed as a contributing cause of death. 'This real-time analysis reveals the hidden toll of heatwaves and we want it to help raise the alarm. 'Heatwaves are an underappreciated threat in the UK and they're becoming more dangerous with climate change.' Dr Konstantinoudis warned that people should follow heat-health advice this weekend and check on older people, particularly those living alone. Temperatures had been forecast to hit 32C across the South East on Saturday and had already reached that level on Thursday in London. The UK Health Security Agency issued an amber heat-health alert covering all of England to warn vulnerable populations of the health risks, including 'a rise in deaths'. Dozens of people required treatment for heat-related illness at Royal Ascot on Thursday. The researchers used findings from published research on the relationship between heat and the number of daily deaths, regardless of the cause, in 34,753 areas of England and Wales. They combined these with high-resolution weather forecasts from the Copernicus climate change service to estimate how many heat-related deaths will occur. They estimated that 114 excess deaths would have occurred on Thursday, 152 on Friday, 266 on Saturday and 37 deaths on Sunday, when temperatures will fall to the mid-20s. People above 65 are expected to be hardest hit, with 488 of the estimated excess deaths, the report said. But the experts also warn that heat can be life-threatening for all ages, with 82 deaths estimated for people aged under 65. They also note that the analysis does not account for the effect of the heatwave occurring early in summer before people are acclimatised to hot temperatures, meaning deaths could be underestimated. A recent report by the UK Climate Change Committee estimated that heat-related deaths could rise to more than 10,000 in an average year by 2050 if fossil fuel burning causes warming to reach 2C. UN scientists warned this week that the world is in 'crunch time' to limit warming and has three years left to prevent global average temperature rises exceeding 1.5C. Professor Antonio Gasparrini, of the LSHTM, said: 'Increases of just a degree or two can be the difference between life and death. 'Every fraction of a degree of warming will cause more hospital admissions and heat deaths, putting more strain on the NHS.' Dr Malcolm Mistry, assistant professor at the LSHTM, said: 'Exposure to temperatures in the high 20s or low 30s may not seem dangerous, but they can be fatal, particularly for people aged over 65, infants, pregnant people and those with pre-existing health conditions. 'Unless effective mitigation and adaptive measures are put in place in the coming years, the risk of large heat-related death events is set to increase in the UK – we have a large ageing population and warming is expected to increase to 2C by 2050 and as high as 3C this century.' Dr Lorna Powell, an NHS urgent care doctor in east London who was not involved in the study, said: 'We are seeing cases of heat-related illnesses rising in our urgent care departments. 'Heat exhaustion can quickly trigger more serious illnesses as dehydration sets in and the cardiovascular system becomes overwhelmed.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Popular children's cough medicine recalled over potentially deadly bacterial infection risk
A popular cough medicine for children has been recalled over a risk of bacterial infection that can be deadly. Little Remedies Honey Cough Syrup was recalled Tuesday over the 'presence' of Bacillus cereus, a type of bacteria that can cause two types of foodborne illnesses, and because of 'loss of shelf-stability,' according to a notice from the medicine makers, Medtech Products Inc. The recall describes the symptoms associated with both foodborne illnesses. One can cause nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps starting one to six hours after consuming contaminated food. The second illness can cause stomach cramps and diarrhea starting 8 to 16 hours after exposure. 'Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term illness, exposure to high levels of foodborne B. cereus can cause death,' the recall notice warned. No serious adverse effects have been reported as of the date of the recall. The recalled cough syrup was sold by retailers throughout the country and online from December 14, 2022, to June 4, 2025. Consumers with the recalled medicine are advised to stop using it immediately and contact their doctor if they experience any symptoms that may be related to the product. The company is also offering a refund of the product.
