‘The era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN boss, as White House announces provisions to protect workers from extreme heat
As one construction worker wipes his brow, two other roofers work under a 90 degree temperature at a housing complex under construction in Clarksburg, Maryland on July 26, 2023.
Michael S. Williamson | The Washington Post | Getty Images
“The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
So said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in a speech Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York City. He focused on new data released from the European Union and the World Meteorological Organization, declaring July is set to be the hottest month on record.
Also on Thursday, President Biden announced provisions to protect workers and communities from extreme heat, and had meetings scheduled with Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona, and Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, Texas, to discuss how their cities are handling extreme heat and how the federal government can help.
Phoenix has had a brutal summer, and earlier this month, the city broke a 1974 record for the consecutive number of days the temperature has reached over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.
“For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a cruel summer,” Guterres said. “For the entire planet, it is a disaster.”
The record heat affecting communities across the globe is caused by climate change, and although the phenomenon has long been predicted, the pace of change is devastating, Guterres said.
“For scientists, it is unequivocal — humans are to blame,” Guterres said. “All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings. The only surprise is the speed of the change. Climate change is here. It is terrifying, and it is just the beginning.”
US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks about climate change at UN headquarters in New York City on July 27, 2023.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
On Thursday, much of the United States was blanketed in what the National Weather Service called “a dangerous heat wave.” Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston are under a heat advisory, and the New York City metro area is under an excessive heat warning, according to a Thursday bulletin by the National Weather Service. Numerous high maximum and high minimum temperature records are expected to be broken through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
Guterres said it is still possible to limit global warming to to 1.5° Celsius above preindustrial levels, as the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement has called for, but “only with dramatic, immediate climate action.”
“We have seen some progress: a robust rollout of renewables, some positive steps from sectors such as shipping,” Guterres said. “But none of this is going far enough or fast enough.”
Greenhouse gas emissions have to be reduced globally and quickly, Guterres emphasized, adding that “fossil fuel companies must chart their move towards clean energy, with detailed transition plans across the entire value chain: No more greenwashing. No more deception.”
In his speech, Guterres also underlined his view that countries must invest in adaptation measures.
“Extreme weather is becoming the new normal,” he said. “All countries must respond and protect their people from the searing heat, fatal floods, storms, drought and raging fires that result.”
Rick White drinks water while cooling down in his tent in a section of the ‘The Zone’, Phoenix’s largest homeless encampment, amid the city’s worst heat wave on record on July 25, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. White said, ‘The extreme heat is one thing, but the direct sun, it drains you quick…That sun will have you delirious.’ While Phoenix endures periods of extreme heat every year, today is predicted to mark the 26th straight day of temperatures reaching 110 degrees or higher, a new record amid a long duration heat wave in the Southwest. Extreme heat kills more people than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined in an average year in the U.S. Unhoused people are at an especially high risk of heat-related illness or death.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images
To address the conditions, the Biden administration asked the Department of Labor to issue a Hazard Alert Thursday to give workers protections from heat under federal law. There have been 436 work-related deaths caused by heat exposure since 2011, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and thousands are hospitalized every year due to heat, according to the White House. The Hazard Alert is aimed at helping employers understand what they should be doing to protect workers from extreme heat and help workers understand their rights.
For help with future preparations, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will put $7 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to improve weather forecasting.
US President Joe Biden, joined by acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad, speaks during a briefing on extreme heat conditions, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, in Washington, DC, on July 27, 2023.
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
“The need for actionable weather information never ends, and neither do our efforts to make that information as accurate as possible,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a written statement about the funding. “This new consortium funded by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will help us stay on the cutting edge and help continue innovation needed for more precise forecasts.”
Another heat-related initiative that President Biden announced Thursday is a $152 million investment, also from the IRA, to improve water storage capacity in areas of California, Colorado and Washington that have been particularly affected by drought.
In addition to a rigorous plan to reduce greenhouse gas emission and improve adaptation, Guterres also called for developed countries to live up to commitments to provide $100 billion per year in climate support to developing countries and for the global financial system to be more aggressive in using its power to combat climate change.
“The evidence is everywhere: Humanity has unleashed destruction,” Guterres said. “This must not inspire despair, but action.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella leaves after attending a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.
Willy Kurniawan | Reuters
Microsoft on Tuesday said that it’s laying off 3% of employees across all levels, teams and geographies.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.
The company reported better-than-expected results, with $25.8 billion in quarterly net income, and an upbeat forecast in late April.
Microsoft had 228,000 employees worldwide at the end of June, meaning that the move will affect thousands of employees.
It’s likely Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since the elimination of 10,000 roles in 2023. In January the company announced a small round of layoffs that were performance-based. These new job cuts are not related to performance, the spokesperson said.
One objective is to reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said.
Last week cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike announced it would lay off 5% of its workforce.
In January, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts that the company would make sales execution changes that led to lower growth than expected in Azure cloud revenue that wasn’t tied to artificial intelligence. Performance in AI cloud growth outdid internal projections.
“How do you really tweak the incentives, go-to-market?” Nadella said. “At a time of platform shifts, you kind of want to make sure you lean into even the new design wins, and you just don’t keep doing the stuff that you did in the previous generation.”
On Monday, Microsoft shares stopped trading at $449.26, the highest price so far this year. They closed at a record $467.56 last July.
WATCH: Microsoft will continue as the best performing mega-cap stock in 2025: D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria
Hinge Health co-founders Gabriel Mecklenburg (left) and Daniel Perez (right).
Courtesy of Hinge Health
Hinge Health said in a filing on Tuesday that it plans to raise up to $437 million in its upcoming initial public offering.
The digital physical therapy startup filed its initial prospectus in March, and it updated the document with an expected pricing range for its Class A common stock of $28 to $32 per share. Hinge said it plans to sell about 13.7 million shares in the offering.
Based on the number of Class A and Class B shares outstanding after the offering, the deal would value the company at $2.42 billion in the middle of the range, though that number could be higher on a fully diluted basis.
Hinge, founded in 2014, uses software to help patients treat acute musculoskeletal injuries, chronic pain and carry out post-surgery rehabilitation remotely. The company was co-founded by CEO Daniel Perez and Executive Chairman Gabriel Mecklenburg, who have both experienced personal struggles with physical rehabilitation.
Three weeks after Hinge filed its initial prospectus, President Donald Trump announced a sweeping tariff policy that plunged U.S. markets into turmoil. That volatility has caused several companies, including online lender Klarna and ticket marketplace StubHub, to delay their long-awaited IPOs.
Hinge is forging ahead anyway, and a second digital health startup, virtual chronic care company Omada Health, filed to go public on Friday. Both IPOs will be closely watched by the digital health sector, which has been mostly devoid of public offerings since 2021.
During its first quarter, Hinge said that revenue climbed 50% to $123.8 million, up from $82.7 million during the same period last year. Hinge reported $117.3 million in revenue during its fourth quarter, up 44% from the same period in 2023.
The company plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HNGE.”
Hinge has raised more than $1 billion from investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management, and it boasted a $6.2 billion valuation as of October 2021, the last time the company raised outside funding. The biggest institutional shareholders are venture firms Insight Partners and Atomico, which own 19% and 15% of the stock, respectively, according to its prospectus.
WATCH: IPO window likely to open in first half of 2026: PitchBook
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