In a landmark piece of climate journalism, Reuters has published a groundbreaking investigation arguing that the term “heat waves” no longer adequately captures what is happening on the planet. A better term is “heat storms,” wrote Maurice Tamman, a veteran investigative journalist who was the lead reporter on “The Age of Heat Storms” project. 

“[S]upersized heatwaves used to be rare,” Tamman wrote. “No longer. Now they swarm the planet.” In a video accompanying the report, he explained that, “whereas heatwaves were once small and relatively self-contained, now we live in a world where these heatwaves are massive.” 

🚨 No More "Heat Waves": Reuters reports we’ve entered the age of "Heat Storms"—heat events covering 1% to 30% of the planet. They used to be rare, but for the past 18 years, they've been constant and cascading with zero breaks. #HeatStorms #ClimateChange #SGNews https://t.co/Tm1DhT3l1f— SG News (@SGNews123) October 20, 2026

🚨 No More "Heat Waves": Reuters reports we’ve entered the age of "Heat Storms"—heat events covering 1% to 30% of the planet. They used to be rare, but for the past 18 years, they've been constant and cascading with zero breaks. #HeatStorms #ClimateChange #SGNews https://t.co/Tm1DhT3l1f

Drawing on interviews with dozens of scientists and researchers, Reuters defined a “heat storm” as an episode of “abnormally high temperatures” that lasts for at least five consecutive days and covers more than one per cent of Earth’s surface, an area roughly the size of half of Canada. Whereas the planet averaged about five........

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