It Sure Was Hot Yesterday

My dread registers the world’s hottest day in over 125,000 years.

David McNew/Getty

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How did you spend your Fourth of July? I spent a considerable amount of time in the ocean, floating above the hum of anxieties, both personal and existential, that typically soundtrack my days.

But outside the cocoon of cool waves, those gentle swells that numb the pain of existence, the earth around me apparently experienced its hottest day on record—or at least in 125,000 years, scientists at the University of Maine report.

That’s alarming stuff. Indeed, it prompted me to briefly pause a beat longer, a sure sign that I’ve encountered news to consider beyond mindless scrolling. But in an era defined by the same red-blinking stories that flow with eye-glazing repetition, all of them signaling our unrelenting climate emergency, how does the hottest day in human-record keeping hit you? Is it more or less troubling than the apocalyptic smoke we choked on the other week? Does our new normal of sweltering heat feel as dumb as the toxic fireworks we set off to celebrate patriotism? What about the hundreds of tons of toxins we release amid heat waves?

My dread is struggling to contemplate these questions. But I do look forward to my next torpefying ocean hang.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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