Miami police dog bakes to death and Death Valley motorcyclist dies of exposure as relentless, record-setting heatwave roasts America
A Florida police dog has become the latest victim of the deadly heatwave sweeping the US.
Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest, including Nevada, Palm Springs and Medford tied or broke previous heat records with temperatures well over 100 degrees.
In Miami, where temperatures climbed to 108 degrees during the July 4 weekend, a beloved police K9 named Archer succumbed to the heat while searching for a suspect.
It came after a visitor died in Death Valley National Park from heat exposure when temperatures hit 128 degrees there on Saturday, while another person was hospitalized.
Madison County Sheriff's Office said officers were hunting for a man who was on the run after jumping from a vehicle on Interstate 10 on July 4 with Archer when he collapsed.
A Florida police dog named Archer has become the latest victim of the deadly heatwave sweeping the US after he succumbed to high temperatures during a chase on July 4
The department said he suffered a 'heat episode' and died the next day at an animal hospital in Gainesville 'surrounded by his handler, fellow members of our canine unit and medical staff'.
'K9 Archer honorably fulfilled his duty by protecting our citizens, our communities, and our deputies without fear or hesitation,' Sheriff David Harper wrote in a July 5 Facebook post.
'K9 Archer will remain in our hearts forever and never to be forgotten. Rest easy our protector, we will continue to hold the line in your honor.'
The suspect involved in the chase was arrested. His identity and charges have not yet been released.
Defending his unit's canine procedures in light of Archer's death, Sheriff David Harper said the 'felon' was moving toward a home and was only 'a couple hundred yards away' from his target when Archer succumbed to the heat.
'What would have happened had the criminal made it to one of those residences?' Harper wrote on Facebook.
'We will never know because multiple dedicated deputies led by one amazing and committed canine named Archer located and arrested the criminal before he was able to reach the manicured grass in the yard.
'Yes it is hot. No doubt about that. However heat does not deter criminals and crime.'
In Miami, where temperatures climbed to 108 degrees over the July 4 weekend, a beloved police K9 named Archer succumbed to the heat while searching for a suspect
Visitors walk under the sun at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, near Furnace Creek, during a heatwave impacting Southern California on July 7, 2024. A motorcyclist died from heat illness in the area on Saturday
A man wipes his face near the Las Vegas strip during a heatwave in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7, 2024. According to the US National Weather Service, high temperatures in Las Vegas on Sunday could reach up to 117 degrees
It comes as American cities have smashed all-time heat records as scorching temperatures grip the country.
An excessive heat warning, the National Weather Service's highest alert, is in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10 percent of the population.
The West Coast has so far borne the brunt of the heat wave with Palm Springs, California hitting its hottest ever temperature - 124 degrees on Friday.
Likewise, Las Vegas hit 120 degrees on Sunday, breaking its previous record of 119 degrees and Death Valley reached 127 degrees.
Across the West temperatures are consistently climbing into the 105-118 range, with Medford, Oregon hitting 109 degrees on Friday, smashing its previous record of 102 which had stood for 113 years.
Even San Francisco - which is usually cooled by the ocean - climbed into the high 80s over the weekend.
The scorching outlook in America reflects a global trend towards more extreme weather patterns worldwide.
Tourists take photos near the Las Vegas strip during a heatwave in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7, 2024
Vendors selling water try to stay cool during a heatwave in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7, 2024. According to the US National Weather Service, high temperatures in Las Vegas on Sunday could reach up to 117 degrees
The Earth's more than year-long streak of record-shattering hot months kept on simmering through June, according to the European climate service Copernicus.
Global temperature in June hit a record high for the 13th straight month and it marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, Copernicus said in an early Monday announcement.
'It's a stark warning that we are getting closer to this very important limit set by the Paris Agreement,' Copernicus senior climate scientist Nicolas Julien said in an interview.
'The global temperature continues to increase. It has at a rapid pace.'
That 1.5 degree temperature mark is important because that's the warming limit nearly all the countries in the world agreed upon in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, though Julien and other meteorologists have said the threshold won't be crossed until there's long-term duration of the extended heat - as much as 20 or 30 years.
'This is more than a statistical oddity and it highlights a continuing shift in our climate,' Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement.
There's hope that the planet will soon see an end to the record-setting part of the heat streak, but not the climate chaos that has come with it, scientists said.
