Antarctic Ice Sheet is Shrinking

August 13, 2013

The leading edge of the remaining part of the Larsen B ice shelf extends into the northwest part of the Weddell Sea.

From VOA Learning English, this is Science in the News. I’m Faith Lapidus.

And I'm Bob Doughty. Today we talk about hot weather in the United States and around the world. We also tell you about the best ways to prevent and treat problems caused by extreme heat.

Floods, storms and other natural events kill thousands of people every year. So does extreme heat. In fact, experts say heat may be nature’s deadliest killer. Several hot days that follow each other are considered a heat wave. Experts say heat waves often become dangerous when the nighttime temperature does not drop much from the highest daytime temperature. This puts great pressure on the human body.

Over the past month, the northeastern United States has been very hot. Amtrak, the passenger railroad service, announced on July 18th that it was reducing the speed at which its trains travel in the Northeast. The reason: extreme heat. Amtrak said it made the decision after the temperature inside some train tracks rose above 48.9 degrees Celsius.

The hot weather also reached the northern state of Alaska. Alaska is known for cold weather in winter and mild summers. In June, the town of Talkeetna, 200 kilometers north of Anchorage, hit an all-time high of 35.5 degrees Celsius. The National Weather Service says the average temperature there for this time of year is 17.8 degrees.