PHOENIX (AP) — Cam Ferguson takes his place on the street next to Chase Field – home of Major League Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks – about four hours before the first pitch to set up his usual presentation of cold water, sports drinks, peanuts and candy.

On this Labor Day afternoon, the temperature in downtown Phoenix is ​​about 102 degrees Fahrenheit when the game begins. Business is in full swing.

“Two for five, but there are eight inside!” shouts another vendor selling water bottles. “Plus they’re having some problems with the air conditioning in there.”

It’s always hot in central Arizona this time of year, but 2024 will be an endless summer with particularly high temperatures in Phoenix. On Tuesday, the city recorded its 100th consecutive day of temperatures of at least 100 degrees, long breaking the record of 76 days in a row set in 1993, according to data from the National Weather Service.

“That’s definitely a striking number,” said NWS meteorologist Sean Benedict.

Scientists say Human-caused climate change is turning up the temperature around the world and increasing the likelihood of dangerous temperatures. That’s because the driver of global warming – the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fuels like oil, gas and coal – continues almost unabated. Extreme weather events like Heatwavesforest fires, violent stormsand extended Droughts will continue, According to the researchers.

On May 27, the temperature in Phoenix reached 38.9 °C (102 °F) and has risen above 120 °C daily since then.

Benedict said that long periods of heat in the desert are usually interrupted by rain, but the monsoon didn’t bring muchThe persistent heat also began early, with days with triple-digit temperatures becoming more frequent as early as May.

It doesn’t look like there’s going to be a break anytime soon.

Unseasonably high temperatures are expected across the Western U.S. this week. An extreme heat warning has been issued for cities in Arizona, including Phoenix and Lake Havasu City, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada, including Laughlin and Pahrump, for Wednesday through Friday.

It will also be warmer in the Californian desert communities of Palm Springs, Twentynine Palms, Needles and Barstow: In Furnace Creek in Death Valley, maximum temperatures of up to 47.7 °C are expected by the end of the week.

Public health officials in Maricopa County, Arizona – home to Phoenix, the hottest metropolitan area in the U.S. – say there will be no more cases of COVID-19 by August 24. 150 heat-related deaths confirmed, another 443 are being investigated. There were 645 heat-related deaths last year in the district with around 4.5 million inhabitants.

However you analyze the data, 2024 marks another record-breaking summer in Phoenix. It was the meteorologically hottest summer, which includes the months of June, July and August. And it’s the same picture across the Western U.S., with several locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico setting or coming close to setting records.

In Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, 181 heat-related deaths have been confirmed so far this year. But the death toll is likely much higher, officials say, because in about 90 percent of cases, the Clark County coroner’s office needs up to three months to determine the cause of death.

In 2023, Clark County will have 294 heat-related deaths and more than 2,200 heat-related emergency room visits, according to Southern Nevada Health District data.

Warnings of increased wildfire danger have been issued throughout California.

A wildfire that forced hundreds of people to flee their homes in Northern California near the Nevada border continued to threaten more than 200 structures Tuesday evening in a remote Sierra mountain community about 50 miles north of Lake Tahoe, the U.S. Forest Service said.

No serious injuries have been reported since the Bear Fire began on Monday, but evacuation orders were in place for more than 500 residents Tuesday evening and warnings were heightened for the blaze, which has consumed about 3 square miles of forest and brush and sent up a plume of smoke visible as far away as 25 miles away in Reno, Nevada.

Cooling centers have been set up across Los Angeles County, where authorities urged residents to check on elderly, sick or otherwise vulnerable neighbors who are at risk in the high temperatures. “Hot days aren’t just uncomfortable – they can be dangerous,” said Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County’s health officer.

For street vendors, there is no respite from the heat. The same is true for many other people in the Phoenix area, especially construction workers and landscapers.

Ferguson’s job out in downtown Phoenix is ​​hot. The concrete and asphalt all over downtown makes it seem even hotter, and the heat radiates through the streets as more than 40,000 fans gather for a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.

“Lots of sun protection shirts and ice cold water,” Ferguson said of dealing with the heat. “That’s the only way to get through it.”

Chase Field can be air-conditioned and has a retractable roof that is closed for most games in the height of summer, which obviously benefits fans and players. But keeping the massive stadium cool in the summer is sometimes difficult, and players have occasionally commented on how surprisingly stuffy it gets inside.

Ramiro Lopez has worked as a landscaper in suburban Phoenix for five years and says every summer seems hotter than the last. Between jobs, he takes breaks in his air-conditioned truck to beat the heat, but the last three months have been a struggle.

“I’ve learned to drink a lot of sports drinks and make sure I’m done by 1 p.m.,” Lopez said. “Otherwise it’s just too much.”

In Phoenix, there were 37 nights this summer where temperatures did not drop below 90 °F (32.2 °C) – another record.

There were also 54 days with temperatures of 43 degrees, which puts us just one day away from breaking last year’s record of 55 days. That number could be broken later this week. The heat is hard on everyone, but it is This is particularly difficult for low-income areas.

“Not being able to cool down at night can be detrimental to health as heat can build up in the body,” wrote Arizona State University climatologist Erinanne Saffell in an email response. “People should be careful to cool down and stay hydrated.”

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Associated Press reporters Anita Snow in Phoenix, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

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