Pres. Biden announces measure to protect vs. extreme weather

Transcript

00:00Climate scientists have warned on extreme weather temperatures engulfing the planet as a result of climate change.

00:07And Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 howler that hit the Caribbean more than a month earlier than usual,

00:13is yet one more proof of an ever-warming planet, as VOA's Aru Pandey reports.

00:21After carving a path through the Southeast Caribbean, Hurricane Beryl is now barreling toward Jamaica,

00:27where fishermen like Clive Davis work to secure their boats.

00:40And this year's hurricane season is already making history, scientists say.

00:58In Washington, which has seen the hottest temperatures in nearly a decade,

01:02emergency officials on Tuesday briefed President Joe Biden and members of his cabinet on extreme weather.

01:09Already, already, tens of millions of Americans are under heat warnings from record-shattering temperatures.

01:15Last month here in D.C., temperatures were 100 degrees.

01:19In Phoenix, Arizona, 112 degrees.

01:22In Las Vegas, 111 degrees.

01:25Biden noted extreme heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States

01:31and announced measures to help protect Americans, including new safety standards in the workplace

01:37and about a billion dollars in funding for projects to safeguard communities

01:42against natural hazards like storms and flooding.

01:45Scenes that are already playing out across the globe in places like New Delhi, India,

01:51which is now dealing with heavy rainfall after seeing a record high temperature of nearly 53 degrees Celsius in late May.

01:59It is getting hotter and hotter. This is not your mind playing tricks on you. This is physics.

02:04We're dumping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They trap heat and the result is a hotter globe.

02:10Scientists say the high temperatures rise in sea level and changes in precipitation patterns

02:16will likely mean more storms like Hurricane Beryl.

02:20Aru Pandey, VOA News, Washington.