By German Lopez

Good morning. We're covering extreme weather, cooling inflation and Emmy nominations.

Floods, heat and smoke

Extreme weather suddenly seems to be happening everywhere at once.

The heat index in parts of Arizona, Texas and Florida will surpass 110 degrees Fahrenheit today. Much of the Midwest is in a severe drought. Areas in New York and Vermont just saw as much rain in a day as is typical for all of July, and subsequent flash floods washed out homes, cars and bridges. Wildfire smoke recently blanketed the Midwest and Northeast — at times giving U.S. cities the worst air quality in the world.

These events show one danger of global warming: Simultaneous climate disasters can play off one another, further worsening extreme weather and straining limited resources. Consider some examples:

• For years, the U.S. and Australia shared firefighting resources because their fire seasons do not typically overlap. In 2019 and 2020, they were instead forced to compete for personnel and equipment as California dealt with a wildfire season that extended into its winter, while much of Australia burned during its so-called Black Summer.
• In the Western U.S., both more heat and unusually dry conditions have caused the megadrought of recent years. The heat and dryness have also acted as kindling for more frequent and more severe fires. In both cases, the two conditions, exacerbated by climate change, compounded each other to cause more disasters.
• Last year, a heat wave in Pakistan pushed temperatures above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Then floods submerged more than a third of the nation. The back-to-back events strained resources in an already poor country.
• States often support each other during natural disasters by sending equipment or opening residents' homes to people who have been displaced. But New York can't as easily help neighboring Vermont while both states are battling floods. (Vermont has received help from North Carolina, Michigan and Connecticut, among others.)

We should expect more such problems going forward, largely propelled by climate change.

Worse to come

This year really has been unusual for the climate. The chart below shows global surface air temperatures since 1979. The daily global temperature set a record last week, and it could again in the coming weeks.

Climate change is one culprit. Some of the current problems also stem from the periodic weather pattern known as El Niño, which causes temperatures to rise. It will likely subside next year, bringing somewhat cooler conditions, before returning again several years later. When it does, it could bring even worse disasters than this year's El Niño because climate change will have continued to warm the planet all the while.

"Extremes are already worse because of man-made climate change," said Kim Cobb, the director of the Institute at Brown University for Environment and Society. "And they're going to get worse with each additional increment of warming."

Humans can't prevent El Niño, but they can do something about climate change. Anything that reduces greenhouse gases can help. While much of the world has already taken steps to cut human emissions, experts continue to say that progress has been too slow to stop or reverse global warming.

More weather news

• Some Vermonters added safeguards to their homes after a tropical storm 12 years ago. This week, they discovered the measures still weren't enough.
• The heat in the U.S. is forecast to get worse this weekend, with temperatures surpassing 100 degrees in parts of the South. (See the heat index in your area.)
• Even the ocean water is hitting the 90s.
• Scientists have created a super-white paint that reflects the sun's rays back into space and helps cool buildings.
• "Every day, it seems, we get better at normalizing extreme weather," David Wallace-Wells writes in Times Opinion.

THE LATEST NEWS

• Inflation cooled significantly in June. It was another sign that the Fed's rate increases are working, and that the hikes could stop after this month.
• Some investors are growing more optimistic that the U.S. can rein in inflation without causing a recession.

• At the NATO summit, leaders from all 31 member nations pledged that Ukraine would someday be admitted, though they did not say when.
• President Biden said NATO would support Ukraine through the war, no matter how long it took.
• A group of House Republicans is seeking to cut American military funding for Ukraine.

• Chinese hackers broke into the email accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other U.S. officials.
• The White House's plans to put new restrictions on American investments in Chinese companies may undermine recent diplomatic trips.

• A BBC staff member suspended on allegations of sexual misconduct was identified as Huw Edwards, a flagship news anchor who led coverage of the queen's funeral.
• Growing demand for cocaine is fueling violence in Ecuador.

• At a contentious hearing in the House, Republicans criticized the F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, over the investigation of Donald Trump.
• Texas A&M appointed Kathleen McElroy, a former Times editor, to run its journalism program. But political anger over her past diversity work led the job to unravel.

• NASA released another photo from the James Webb Space Telescope. It has been taking "baby pictures of the universe" in the closest star-forming region to Earth.
• A tornado touched down in Chicago, near O'Hare, and hundreds of travelers sheltered in one of the airport's neon hallways. See the video.

A ruling restricting the Biden administration's contact with online platforms means that state and local authorities get to set internet policy, Kate Klonick writes.

The U.S. government should stop backing Haiti's acting prime minister, an unpopular figure implicated in the former president's murder, Jake Johnston argues.

Here are columns by Thomas Edsall on Republican voter suppression and Lydia Polgreen on "woke capitalism."

Gain unlimited access to The Times — with just one subscription. Independent reporting. Recipes. Games. Product reviews. Personalized sports journalism. Enjoy it all with an introductory offer.

MORNING READS

Webbed shaka: An otter steals surfboards and rides them. She's wanted by California officials.

Menopause: Do hormone treatments increase the risk of dementia?

Icon of the Seas: Some can't wait to ride this giant, candy-color cruise ship. Others call it a monstrosity.

Year of the fungi: Mushrooms took over wellness. Now they're appearing in chocolate.

Lives Lived: Ellen Hovde was a director of the 1975 movie "Grey Gardens," but saw her role as one of its editors as more pivotal. "The person who is doing the editing," she said, is "making the decisions about what is really going to be there on the screen." She died at 97.

SPORTS NEWS

Professional surfer: Mikala Jones, known for the videos he took inside the giant waves he rode, died when the fin from his board cut an artery. He was 44.

ESPYs: Damar Hamlin broke down onstage as he presented an award to the Buffalo Bills training staff for saving his life on the field. Watch the video from ESPN.

More spotlight: The Jets will be the latest subject of "Hard Knocks," HBO announced yesterday.

A mayor's pitch: Oakland's mayor said in an exclusive interview that she had presented the M.L.B. commissioner with a plan to keep the A's in Oakland.

ARTS AND IDEAS

TV's best: The final season of "Succession" scored 27 Emmy nominations yesterday, the most of any series, including acting nods for nine of its cast members. And HBO pulled off a rare feat, with four of its shows — "Succession," "The White Lotus," "The Last of Us" and "House of the Dragon" — nominated for best drama. The most closely watched comedy award will probably be the competition for best actor, which includes Jason Sudeikis for "Ted Lasso" and Jeremy Allen White for "The Bear." (See all the nominees.)

More on culture

• TV and movie actors said contract talks with the studios had collapsed, moving Hollywood closer to an industrywide shutdown.
• A plastic surgeon in Ohio lost her medical license after streaming operations on TikTok.
• Anchor Brewing Company, the oldest craft brewer in the U.S., will close after 127 years.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Add nuoc cham, a Vietnamese sauce, to this chicken and herb salad.

Forage for your next meal with the same gear the pros use.

Stash your leftovers in reusable storage bags.

Workout in the pool. No swimming needed.

Read this great story about a mysterious, glamorous neighbor who needed help.

Listen to a podcast by a duchess talking to other duchesses about running their castles.

GAMES

Here are today's Spelling Bee and the Bee Buddy, which helps you find remaining words. Yesterday's pangram was femininity.

And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — German

Correction: Yesterday's newsletter misspelled the name of Vermont's capital, Montpelier.

P.S. The artist Maria Jesus Contreras was shortlisted for a 2023 World Illustration Award, for her work in The Morning's Saturday editions. Congratulations, Maria!

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com.

Editor: David Leonhardt

Deputy Editor: Amy Fiscus

News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti

News Staff: Lyna Bentahar, Lauren Jackson, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu

News Assistant: Lauren Hard

Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch

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