Heat Wave

Death counts continue to climb as Europe endures a record-shattering heat wave.

Public-health officials say heat drove ~1,000 excess deaths in France last week, with about 85% of victims 65 or older. Temperature records were toppled from Germany to the U.K. as the dome crept east, with red alerts shuttering schools and slowing transit.

The WHO Director-General says Europe is “heating at twice the global average,” and called on European countries to better prepare for extreme heat.

Stateside, a heat dome is baking the Midwest and Northeast with triple-digit temps and little overnight relief, while around 2 million in the West face fire alerts. And heat isn’t the only summer hazard: The CDC reports ER visits for tick bites have hit their highest rate in nearly a decade, raising concerns of tick-borne diseases.

CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
As believers, let’s pray for the families grieving loved ones lost to the heat, for the elderly and vulnerable as summer bears down on both sides of the Atlantic, and for wisdom to steward God’s good creation well.

“Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.… took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.”
Genesis 2:7, 15 (CSB) (read full passage)