World Cup fandom is about to collide with climate change — and things could get heated.
Dangerously hot temperatures are blanketing the central and eastern United States as the soccer tournament enters its knockout rounds, putting millions of people at risk.
Roughly a quarter of all matches since the start of the games are expected to be played in hazardous heat, according to an analysis by World Weather Attribution, which models how climate change influences extreme weather events. It also warns that the wet-bulb global temperature — a measure of temperature, humidity and factors affecting heat stress in the human body — could rise high enough to justify postponing some games.
Sticky, hot weather is not unusual in North America during summer. But extreme heat has intensified since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup.
