While much of the Upper Peninsula has evaded the brutal and deadly heat waves that have been prevalent around the country this summer, we aren’t totally insulated from the concerning trend of rising temperatures around the world.

According to the Associated Press, July 22, 2024, broke the record for the hottest day humans have ever recorded, taking the spot from July 6, 2023.

While climate change remains controversial in some circles, the scientific community generally agrees that greenhouse gases are causing the climate to warm up.

“The Earth has set heat records for 13 straight months. The global temperature averaged over the past year is more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial times, seeming to exceed the global agreed upon limit for warming.

“When that threshold was set in 2015, it was meant to apply over 20 or 30 years, not just 12 months,” said Carlo Buontempo, the director of the European climate service Copernicus.

Provisional satellite data published by Copernicus on July 24 shows that July 22 was 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.1 degree Fahrenheit) hotter than July 21, which was .01 degrees Celsius hotter (0.2 degrees Fahrenheit) than the previous hottest day on record.

Other climate-related catastrophes are becoming commonplace, including widespread destruction from a currently burning wildfire in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

These issues may seem far away to most Yoopers but impacts can be felt here as well, whether it be last year’s mild winter or hazy skies from Canadian wildfires blowing into the U.P.

Unfortunately, these issues will seemingly continue into the future unless action is taken by governments and corporations around the world.

— The Mining Journal, Marquette