below is a report now running in today's The Guardian. First two sentences are headlines, then the start of the article..
THE GUARDIAN
"Japan swelters through hottest summer while parts of China log warmest August on record.
"Climate scientists have already predicted that 2024 will be the hottest year ever.
"Japan has recorded its hottest summer on record after a sweltering three months marked by thousands of instances of “extreme heat”, with meteorologists warning that unseasonably high temperatures will continue through the autumn.
"The average temperature in June, July and August was 1.76C higher than the average recorded between 1991 and 2020, the Japan meteorological agency said, according to Kyodo news agency.
"It was the hottest summer since comparable records were first kept in 1898 and tied the record set in 2023, the agency said.
"Japan has recorded 8,821 instances of “extreme heat” – a temperature of 35C or higher – so far this year, easily beating the previous record of 6,692 set in 2023, it added.
"The brutal heat was not confined to Japan. Swathes of China logged the hottest August on record, the weather service said."
