We're closing this page now, but there's loads more to read:

• July set to be warmest month on record
• Why this summer has been so hot
• What is climate change? A really simple guide
• How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods
• How do you stop climate change?
• Four things you can do about your carbon footprint

Today's page was brought to you by Heather Sharp, Dulcie Lee, Emma Owen, Marianna Brady, Gabriela Pomoroy, Gem O'Reilly, Jacqueline Howard, Michael Sheils McNamee, Charley Adams, Andre Rhoden-Paul, Malu Cursino, James Harness, and Ali Abbas Ahmadi.

Image source, EPA

We'll soon be closing our live coverage on this big day of climate news. Here's a recap of the key developments:

• July is "almost certain" to be the hottest month on record, scientists say
• It follow a series, external of climate records on temperature, ocean heat, and Antarctic sea ice, that have alarmed some scientists who say their speed and timing is unprecedented
• We are living in an era of "global boiling", says UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, with "families running from the flames and workers collapsing in scorching heat"
• US president Joe Biden described climate change as an “existential threat”, with the US facing a “real crisis”
• He said announced measures to tackle extreme heat, including safety rules for workers
• In the UK, the Met Office says the record-breaking heat the UK experienced in 2022 will be regarded as a cooler-than-average year by the end of this century

Image source, Reuters

Madeline Halpert
US reporter

Image source, City of Phoenix

Chief heat officers are a new and rare phenomenon - there are only three in the entire United States - but experts say they are becoming key figures on the front line of climate change.

Over the past few years, the cities of Miami, Los Angeles and Phoenix have all hired the officials. They are tasked with both short- and long-term tasks: protecting the most vulnerable residents during heat emergencies and brainstorming how to make cities more resilient to high temperatures in the future.

In Phoenix, where temperatures have soared above 110F (43C) for nearly a month, chief heat officer David Hondula has had his work cut out.

“I've been on the phone and sending more text messages than I can remember in my life. There’s this constant coordination and engagement and creativity and brainstorming,” he told the BBC.

At the weekends, Hondula has been heading out with his team on the city’s trailheads to warn residents about the heat to try to prevent dangerous mountain rescues.

In the background, he’s also working on implementing the city’s tree planting programme to shield residents from heatwaves in the future.

“There's a lot of work to do ahead of us,” Hondula said.

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

Technology is not a silver bullet for the climate crisis - but it does offer significant hope.

In East London, Mission Zero have developed what they say is a better, more cost-effective way of extracting carbon dioxide gas from thin air.

The start-up is one of a handful benefitting financially from some of the richest companies in Silicon Valley.

Elsewhere, many governments have long-standing plans to use nature to remove carbon - namely by planting trees.

In west Wales, this has led to an influx of speculators keen to buy farmland that can be turned into forests.

But Hefan Jones, who farms cattle near Carmarthen, has serious concerns: "It would effectively turn parts of Wales into a carbon dumping ground so that other sectors could carry on business as usual it seems."

There are also growing concerns that relying on trees to remove carbon from the atmosphere over the next 100 years is a flawed concept - scientists argue the carbon needs to come out of the air right now.

Experts are divided about removing carbon from the atmosphere - as it might distract from plans to reduce emissions - but there's a growing recognition that both approaches are needed.

Image source, Getty Images

We've heard a lot of concern today about climate change - but experts stress we can still avoid the worst impacts by shifting away from fossil fuels and other sources of the greenhouse gases that are driving global warming.

Tackling climate change will require world leaders to take action on a global level, but here are four ways that we as individuals can reduce our own impact:

• Insulating our homes, installing heat pumps, turning heating down
• Cutting down food waste and reducing meat and dairy in our diets
• Driving and flying less and cycling and walking more
• Repairing clothes rather than replacing then, and donating them rather than throwing them away

Read more here.

As we've been reporting, scientists say July is "virtually certain" to be the world's warmest month on record.

One of the authors of today's report, Christ Hewitt, the director of climate services at the World Meteorological Organization has been speaking to the BBC.

He predicts that the at least one of the next five years will be the hottest on record, and says it's likely one of those years will temporarily exceed the threshold of 1.5C above pre-industrial average temperatures.

Image source, .

Limiting warming to 1.5C is a target built into the Paris Agreement and is seen as key to avoiding the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

The limit was partly designed to avoid crossing so-called "tipping points" - thresholds beyond which changes could accelerate and become irreversible in different parts of the Earth's climate system, such as the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Hewitt notes that we are already seeing global mean temperatures above the 1.5C threshold, but these are temporary, for "days or perhaps weeks", rather than the long-term periods referred to in the Paris Agreement. But as the planet warms "we are getting closer" to the threshold, he says.

Is the warming we are now seeing reversible? "Yes" he says. But he adds: "We need to take dramatic and drastic action as soon as possible."

Read more: Really simple guide to climate change

Madeline Halpert
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Experts and chief heat officials in the US told the BBC that local governments face a host of challenges in trying to combat extreme temperatures.

Extreme heat has been called a “silent killer” because it claims thousands of lives each year, though the threats are not always immediately visible to the public.

This poses challenges for tracking down and protecting the most vulnerable Americans.

“It's not like with a hurricane, or a storm surge or forest fire, where you know where the damage is,” said Jane Gilbert, Miami’s chief heat officer. “An elderly single woman living alone in an apartment, we may not find her until it’s too late.”

Climate scientists say that though summers will likely only get hotter, local governments often lack the resources to tackle the problem until it’s too late.

“This is not your grandmother’s heat any more,” said Ashley Ward, director of Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub.

“When we do the examination of this heat season, I think we're going to find how woefully unprepared we are and how much we lack the infrastructure to respond.”

If you've just joined us, a short while ago US President Joe Biden spoke about how climate change is affecting the US.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference:

• Biden said the US was facing a "real crisis" in its cities and no one "can deny the impact of climate change anymore"
• The president said 100 million Americans were being affected by record temperatures and that experts say extreme heat is costing America $100bn a year
• He announces a new Hazard Alert for heat which clarifies workers have federal protections when it comes to hazardous conditions
• He says there will be more inspections of high-risk industries like construction and agriculture
• A $1bn grant fund will allow for more trees to be planted in cities for shade and cooling centres
• Biden accused a "Maga [Make America Great Again] extremist congress" of trying to block progress, and said there was a lot more work to do

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from New York

At the underground subway station this morning, while waiting for my train, I could feel an unusually hot waft of air hit my face like it does in a sauna.

People were using paper fans to cool themselves and everybody breathed an audible sigh of relief when the air conditioned coach arrived.

“It feels like the world is ending,” said Jessica, a subway cleaning worker, who has lived all her life in New York.

Her job requires her to be in a non-airconditioned environment most of the time.

“It’s horrible, it’s torturous. I try to take cooling and water breaks when I can.”

After weeks of relentless heat in the south-west, now millions of Americans in the north-east of the country are experiencing dangerously high temperatures.

Cities have put out heat advisories - including asking citizens to limit outdoor activity and seek medical advice if necessary.

Authorities in cities like New York say they have opened “cooling centres” in public libraries and community centres - particularly for vulnerable people without air-conditioning.

Some of these also welcome pets. It was also announced that swimming pools in the city will operate with extended hours.

Temperatures are expected to peak in the region on Friday.

President Joe Biden has finished speaking now - he thanked the two mayors for their work in Texas and Phoenix before leaving the lectern.

"I think we can make a difference and, as my mother would say, God love ya."

Both Biden and Nirenberg have mentioned water breaks. That's in reference to a Texan law that overrides protections for people working outdoors in intense heat after nine hours.

A Texan congressman recently ended a food and water strike in protest over it.

Biden used a football anecdote to illustrate his point.

"The idea that you can't have mandatory water breaks when you work on a construction site - hell, when I played football, if you had a coach who, during the summer practice didn't provide water on a regular basis, they got in trouble, they got fired".

Image source, Getty Images

We are hearing now from the San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg - he's not affiliated with either major party.

He praises the policies of the president, and highlights some of the steps that his city has made towards its climate goals.

He says the ending of the use of coal is imminent, and will come in well ahead of schedule.

Mayor Nirenberg also notes that 75% of the city are communities of colour, who are disproportionally affected by the changing climate.

Sustainability and green energy are no longer four letter words in the state of Texas, he says.

He says San Antonio has become the fifth largest solar producer in the United States - and says communities across Texas have committed to becoming “greener and more equitable”.

"The state best known for oil and gas production can help lead the way to a greener tomorrow," he says.

Image source, Reuters

The Mayor of Phoenix, Kate Gallego (who's a democrat) now joins virtually. The city has faced 27 days of temperatures above 110F (43 C).

She starts by saying that Phoenix is known for heat but "this summer has been unprecedented".

Kate adds: "Phoenix is on the front line of climate change. A large part of our effort is getting our residents inside as much as possible."

She explains that Phoenix have been focused on this since "day one".

She says declaring the heat a disaster from Congress would improve the impact and help to build "long term solutions".

Image source, Reuters

Biden's first announcement is the Heat Hazard Alert - a framework he says clarifies heat-related protections for workers at a federal level.

"Those states where they do not (protect their workers)", Biden says, "I am going to be calling them out."

Image source, Reuters

Joe Biden now is talking about the economic cost of climate change and how it hits vulnerable people the hardest.

“Folks we really want to pretend these things are normal," he says.

He talks about some of the industries being affected, and says it is outrageous that construction workers are unable to take water breaks, in some circumstances.

He also mentions “farms, fisheries, and forests” as some of the things which will suffer from extreme heat.

Joe Biden is talking about the current heatwave, saying: "We're here today ... to talk about the existential threat of climate change - and it is a threat."

He says: "I don't know anyone who honestly believes that climate change is not a problem."

Biden explains that tackling climate change is politically divisive because many Republicans won't say extreme weather is being caused by it.

He says that adds to the battle to get legislation through.

Biden adds that extreme heat is costing America "$1bn a year".

US President Joe Biden has just stepped up to the lectern - we'll bring you his key points.

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, EPA

With 40% of Americans, over 150 million people, currently living under some kind of heat alert, this announcement from President Biden is timely.

Here, outside the White House itself, temperatures are expected to rise to 37C (98.6F) this afternoon, but that’s positively mild compared to elsewhere in the US.

The measures being put forward by the President today include better protection for workers during hot spells, especially those who work in construction or farming.

There will be another $7 million (£5.4 million) to improve the nation’s weather forecast and $152 million (£118.1 million) to increase water storage capacities in drought stricken western states.

But the criticism will be that these measures deal with the symptoms of climate change rather than the causes and that, faced with a congress inclined to drag its feet on the introduction on measures to significantly reduce US carbon emissions, President Biden has not acted quickly or effectively enough.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

We're going to turn our attention to the US shortly, where millions of Americans are facing extreme heat across the southwest.

We're expecting to hear from President Joe Biden, who is is set to announce measures to relieve the situation - according to a White House press release this will involve improving weather forecasts and making drinking water more accessible.

Climate activists and some Democrats have pushed Biden to declare a climate “emergency,” but so far the White House has resisted.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, has described the heat wave as “a difficult time” and said Biden was treating climate change with “the urgency it requires.”

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter

One thing UN Secretary General António Guterres spoke about ealier was the need for developed countries to increase funding to help poorer countries adapt to the effects of climate change.

Under the Paris agreement, rich countries made a commitment to give $100bn a year to developing nations, to help them both deal with the effects of climate change and to reduce their emissions.

That target was meant to met in 2020, but it wasn't.

Further funding is required to help nations prepare. So far only a few countries have come forward with the commitments required.

Other nations are also putting money forward - although maybe not the level required - and they're also trying to accelerate private financing.

But that's easier said than done.

For things like reducing emissions by switching to renewable energy, there are investment opportunities.

But for measures to adapt to climate change, like building sea walls or moving populations, there isn’t an obvious investment return, so trying to get finance in from the private sector is far harder.