Nearly 25,000 square kilometres of the United States have burnt so far in 2022. Much of the west of the country is in extreme drought, wiping out crops and drying up drinking-water supplies.

In Kentucky, rain-driven flooding has caused at least 39 deaths this summer, and US coastal communities have grappled with record-breaking high-tide flooding brought on by sea-level rise.

Devastating heat has besieged much of the Northern Hemisphere, taking lives and damaging roads, railways, power grids and other infrastructure. COMPETING INTERESTS The author declares no

competing interests.