The Age of Heat Storms: Why Heat Waves Are Over and What Comes Next

Supersized heat waves used to be rare. No longer. In this exclusive report, Reuters correspondent Maurice Tamman explains why calling modern extreme weather events “heat waves” no longer makes sense, and how they are fundamentally changing our world. A data-driven examination of global temperatures reveals that we have entered the age of “Heat Storms”—colossal heat events covering more than one percent of the planet’s surface.

While the planet averaged just five active heat storms a year in the 1960s, this decade we are averaging 102 active storms annually, with massive systems blanketing up to 30% of the Earth. From tragic heat exhaustion at a Rio de Janeiro concert to 50°C temperatures in Mecca killing 1,300 pilgrims, these cascading, endless climate events are reshaping our economy, environment, and daily survival. Watch to see how defining heat storms allows climate scientists to finally name, track, and quantify the true, invisible toll of global boiling.