Here’s how hot and extreme the summer has been, and it’s only halfway over

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

At about its halfway point, the record-breaking hot and extreme summer of 2023 is both unprecedented and unsurprising. Killer heat. Deadly floods. Smoke from wildfires that chokes. Scientists say they’ve been talking about this for a long time but the really hot seawater worries them. And there’s no relief in sight. Forecasters predict a hotter than normal August and September. Records are being demolished. People are dying. Scientists say it’s mostly climate change with a bit of El Nino. After a summer like this at least one expert wonders why the world continues to burn fossil fuels.