An analysis of all heat waves that occurred around the world between 1979 and 2020 found that they now last an average of 12 days, compared with 8 days at the start of the study. As the planet continues to warm, they will last even longer, says Wei Zhang of Utah State University. “Based on the trend, that could double to 16 days by around 2060,” he says. Zhang’s team found that heat waves are not only lasting much longer, but they are also more frequent and moving more slowly, meaning that specific locations are having to endure hot conditions more often and for longer periods of time. (Michael Le Page, more at newscientist.com)