Remember the ’80s hit by Midnight Oil, “Beds Are Burning”? The Aussie song posits with some disbelief that the “western desert lives and breathes in 45 degrees.” (That’s Celsius, y’all.) Singer-turned-politician Peter Garrett would be even more stunned to learn that southern Europe lived, breathed, and tried to sleep in 45 degrees this week. That’s 113 Fahrenheit, in a region where air conditioners are less common even than Oreos. Greece, Bosnia, and Macedonia suffered most. In Hungary, the mercury hit 107 degrees, causing at least 500 heat-related deaths. Sound like fun? Try adding in several deadly fires and another record-breaking heat wave last month. So next time you hear “next year will be the hottest on record,” don’t plan on summering it away in Greece.
