Danger Season has reached Europe, as in late June temperature records were being set across the continent. The New York Times reports that hotter temperatures are upending regular life in England (96°F in London), France (104°F in Paris) and other European countries. These nations are struggling as an aging infrastructure not designed for such heat fails, with buckling rails snarling trains, impaired operations at nuclear reactors and public places shutting down because of inadequate cooling. European citizens are suffering due to limited experience with extreme temperatures, widespread power outages and minimal air conditioning. This is the hotter of two major heat waves to hit Europe in a month (scientists have suggested that a second heat wave following so quickly is likely to be hotter than the first).

The Times notes that Europe is warming faster than any other continent. Greenhouse gases are warming the planet as a whole, and this is allowing for hot spells of ever-greater severity and duration. But how the heat gets distributed is determined by a complex array of factors that lead to temperatures rising faster in some places than in others. ‟In Europe’s far-northern reaches, for instance, the warmer atmosphere is melting the sea ice that once covered huge swaths of the Arctic. That leaves more of the ocean’s bare, dark surface to absorb the sun’s energy, exacerbating warming” in northern latitudes. There is less snow on the ground as well, and this means less reflection of incoming sunlight back into space. ‟In recent decades, the jet stream has also been splitting more often into two branches over Europe, creating an area of weak winds where heat can become trapped for days.”

One of the most well-known scientific groups studying the role of climate change in extreme events, World Weather Attribution, concluded that ‟human-caused climate change made this month’s roasting heat in Western Europe much more likely than just two decades ago,” according to The New York Times. They determined that, for June, there is at present still only a 1% chance of a heat wave as intense as this week, but decades of temperature records demonstrate that ‟it would have been even rarer in the 2000s, when the world was roughly 1.1 degree Fahrenheit cooler than it is now. And it would have been ‘virtually impossible’ half a century ago, when the planet was 2 degrees Fahrenheit cooler.” Reuters notes that ‟an event dedicated to discussing the impacts of extreme heat at the ‌London School of Economics was cancelled because the venue was too hot.”

It has also been hot in Antarctica, where The Guardian reports that temperatures climbed above 15°C, shattering previous records for winter heat. One scientist stated: ‟This heatwave happened because of extremely strong westerlies. This has been happening with increasing frequency since the 1980s, and that is known to be related to climate change.” Meanwhile, The New York Times notes that a major heat wave is expected to hit the Midwest and Eastern U.S. in early July. Heat records could be broken in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia, and will be accompanied by high humidity.

In the last In Brief, I described the Trump Administration’s plans to remove an ocean monitoring system vital to understanding the accumulation of heat, and which supports weather and climate forecasting and fisheries science. The New York Times reports that, in the face of a bipartisan vote in the Senate to restore the system, Trump has reversed course. ‟Lawmakers in both parties warned that the action would be illegal and would threaten the safety of coastal communities. The Trump administration had also tried to cut the program’s funds the last two years, but Congress restored the money both times.” The Administration will stop dismantling the system, and is making plans to reinstall the monitoring stations off the coast of Oregon and Washington that were already removed.

The New York Times reports that seven Democratic-controlled states sued the Trump Administration over its plan to pay TotalEnergies $928 million to abandon plans to build wind-power projects off New York and North Carolina. The suit contended that the Department of Justice’s use of the Judgment Fund in this instance was illegal as there was no settlement of an existing lawsuit against the government. ‟The suit also accused the government of violating the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows the cancellation of an offshore wind lease only after a hearing and a comprehensive review.”

The New York Times notes that, despite the value of offshore-wind power, the Trump Administration is continuing its buyout efforts by announcing ‟it would pay the energy developer Invenergy hundreds of millions of dollars to abandon plans to build wind farms in the Atlantic and Pacific.” Invenergy agreed to use the money to develop new natural gas-fired power plants in the Midwest and geothermal projects in the Western United States. ‟The announcement means the government has so far spent roughly $2.5 billion to get companies to terminate their offshore wind leases.”

DW notes that, despite the political and regulatory pushback by the Trump Administration, wind power continues to grow in the U.S. Many of these projects were started before the investment tax credits for wind energy expired. The value of the Vineyard Wind project offshore of Massachusetts was demonstrated during the December 2024 cold snap. Strong ocean winds led to high production from Vineyard Wind that stabilized the grid and displaced costly natural gas, saving ratepayers $2 million a day across the region. California just reaffirmed its goal for 25 GW of offshore-wind capacity by 2045. The state continues to invest in port infrastructure to develop this new industry, which unlike in the Atlantic will be based on floating-turbine technology.

Inside Climate News reports another loss in court for Trump’s foolish anti-wind crusade. This time, a federal judge ruled that his January 2025 executive order that essentially banned wind power was “arbitrary and capricious” and ‟exceeded the president’s authority.” The suit was filed in May 2025 by a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C. And, in yet another loss, ‟the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia tossed an August 2025 treasury rule that made it difficult for wind and solar projects to qualify for federal tax credits.”

The New York Times reports that Fervo, a geothermal company based in Houston, completed the biggest clean-tech I.P.O. of all time, giving the company a valuation of more than $10 billion. The enthusiasm of investors reflects the potential for geothermal power, as the International Energy Agency now estimates that geothermal could provide 15% of the world’s energy needs by 2050 with sufficient investment. Since geothermal can provide continuous or ‟base load” power, it can complement intermittent sources of power such as solar and wind (although batteries are essentially eliminating this problem). Trump’s Department of Energy continues to support geothermal, because it requires that you ‟drill, baby, drill,” something oil companies are good at. Analysts note that it will be many years before geothermal is providing a meaningful portion of the country’s power, as the industry will face the problem of scaling up and getting access to the grid while continuing to reduce costs.

The situation in the Colorado River basin continues to deteriorate as reservoir levels drop to extreme lows, impacting water deliveries, electricity generation and inter-state politics. A system of dams and reservoirs designed for the climate and population of a century ago is straining to deal with today’s reality: less water for more people. The New York Times notes that this year’s mild winter and hot spring have so depleted Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, that federal officials have had to take ‟emergency actions to shift water around and keep dams generating electricity.”

Inside Climate News reports that, as soon as this summer but certainly by next spring, the surface of Lake Mead will drop below 1,035 feet above sea level. This will result in the loss of 70% of the hydroelectric power coming from Hoover Dam, and this drastic reduction of cheap power that is responsive to hourly changes in electricity demand will have consequences for the region’s power customers and electric grid. The Bureau of Reclamation will be investing $52 million on three new turbines that will be able to generate electricity at lower reservoir elevations, but these improvements won’t be ready until later in 2027 and will only replace part of the lost generating capacity.

Lake Mead is dropping because of the emergency actions taken upstream to keep water in Lake Powell. Those actions include increasing releases into Lake Powell from upstream dams, and so the consequences keep cascading upstream. Inside Climate News describes the impacts in and around the Flaming Gorge reservoir on the Green River in Utah as it is drawn down to feed Lake Powell. Particularly hard hit are recreational business such as marinas and campgrounds.

The New York Times notes that the seven states whose residents and farmers depend on the Colorado River can’t agree on a fair way to divide up the dwindling water supply. ‟Negotiations are going nowhere despite more than six months of ongoing talks.” The Colorado River Compact, the law governing water use by the seven states and Mexico, was negotiated in the early 20th century during a time of very high river flows. The complex and arcane system of water rights that has developed now entitles each of the signatory entities ‟to far more water than is actually available. The rules prioritize the longest-established uses of water, in many cases dating to the 1850s and 1860s.”

Yale e360 notes that the remarkable solar revolution in India is hampered by its poor grid infrastructure, which at times resulted in almost 40% of the country’s solar generation not reaching customers. ‟While solar last year made up 28 percent of the country’s total installed electricity generating capacity, it accounted for only 9.4 percent of the electricity put into supply.” But that is not stopping the country from building a renewable-electricity sector. “According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about half the growth anticipated between now and 2030 will be met by solar power, and another 25 percent from other low-carbon sources, mostly wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear.”

The author describes the Khavda solar park, which at 9.4 gigawatts is India’s largest. ‟Its panels are attended by robots that dry-clean them at night to remove desert salt and dust without requiring precious freshwater. The project also includes wind turbines in the windy coastal region on the shores of the Arabian Sea, which should secure nighttime power for the grid.” While coal still provides about 70% of India’s electricity, investment is moving away from this sector, and a previous ‟target to double coal mining output has been quietly forgotten.” The IEA predicts that coal’s share in the energy mix is set to fall below 50% by 2035. India is adding large amounts of pumped storage and batteries to improve the delivery of solar electricity to customers.

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