Climate Change & Environment
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Around the world, millions feel the heat of an unrelenting summer

Heat records are being shattered all over the world and the summer swelter keeps coming.

Around one-third of Americans are under some type of heat advisory, with the most blistering temperatures in the South and West, where even the regular simmer has turned up a notch.

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Wildfires force thousands to flee seaside resorts outside Athens

Wildfires outside Athens forced thousands to flee seaside resorts, closed highways and gutted vacation homes Monday, as high winds pushed flames through hillside scrub and pine forests parched by days of extreme heat.

Authorities issued evacuation orders for at least six seaside communities as two major wildfires edged closer to summer resort towns and gusts of wind hit 70 kph (45 mph).

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Canadian firefighter dies battling wildfire in Northwest Territories

A firefighter died while battling a wildfire near his home community in Canada's Northwest Territories, authorities said Sunday.

The territorial government issued a statement saying the firefighter from Fort Liard died from an injury sustained while battling a nearby blaze Saturday afternoon.

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Flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania

Heavy rains pounded an already saturated Northeast on Sunday for the second time in a week, spurring another round of flash flooding, cancelled airline flights and power outages. In Pennsylvania, a sudden flash flood late Saturday afternoon claimed at least five lives.

Officials in Bucks County's Upper Makefield Township in Pennsylvania said torrential rains occurred around 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Washington Crossing area, sweeping away several cars. At least five people died and two children, a 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister, remained missing, authorities said.

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Stay inside, drink water and limit exercise: Heat wave bakes southern Europe

Italian health officials intensified heat warnings as southern Europe began a brutally hot week on Monday with temperatures expected to top 40 C — or 104 F — on a continent already overburdened by tourists.

The health ministry issued 10 recommendations to protect elderly people, the sick and pets from the heat, urging people to stay indoors during the hottest hours, drink at least 1.5 liters (nearly half a gallon) of water a day and refrain from strenuous exercise at peak daylight times. The culprit was a high-pressure anticyclone dubbed Cerberus, the multi-headed dog that guards gates to the underworld in Greek mythology.

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40 killed in South Korea most destructive rainstorm

Heavy downpours lashed South Korea for a ninth day on Monday as rescue workers struggled to search for survivors in landslides, buckled homes and swamped vehicles in the most destructive storm to hit the country this year.

At least 40 people have died, 34 others are injured and more than 10,000 people have had to evacuate from their homes since July 9, when heavy rain started pounding the country. The severest damage has been concentrated in South Korea's central and southern regions.

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In unrelenting heat, millions plunge, drink and shelter to cool off

Millions around the world have been seeking refuge from the scorching sun as climate change, a strong El Nino and summer in the Northern Hemisphere converge, toppling temperature records.

In Phoenix, temperatures have hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) for around two weeks. Volunteers are helping residents, typically hardened by the desert's sweltering summers and insulated by air conditioning, that now need relief.

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Athens Acropolis closes at hottest hours amid Greece heatwave

Disgruntled tourists bemoaned the temporary closing of the Acropolis in Athens on Friday as Greek authorities proactively shut the world monument's gates between midday and early evening amid a heat wave that continues to grip southern Europe.

Red Cross staff handed out bottled water to tourists wilting in long lines hoping to beat the closure and scale the steps up to the gleaming Parthenon temple as temperatures were expected to peak above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the Greek capital.

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Vermont braces for more rain in wake of historic flooding

Vermont prepared for the next round of storms — and possibly a tornado — as people took advantage of calm weather Thursday to clean up from historic flooding that damaged thousands of homes, businesses and roads, and left some residents stranded.

As floodwaters receded, the good news was that there were no new rescue missions, dams were holding up and more roads reopened. The bad news was that strong thunderstorms were expected to move into parts of the state by Thursday night, which could cause more flash flooding, Gov. Phil Scott said at a news conference. Conditions could spawn a tornado, he said. And the state could get more heavy rain over the weekend.

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Cerberus heat wave to get much worse in southern Europe

Tourists in central Athens huddled under mist machines and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit popsicles Thursday as southern Europeans suffered through a heat wave that was projected to get much worse heading into the weekend.

Temperatures in parts of Mediterranean Europe were forecast to reach as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) starting Friday.

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