Editing Natural disaster (section)

==== Heat waves ====
{{main|Heat wave}}

{{see also|List of heat waves}}

A heat wave is a period of unusually and excessively hot weather. Heat waves used to be rare, requiring specific combinations of [[weather]] events to take place, such as [[temperature inversion]]s, [[katabatic winds]], or other phenomena. Since the turn of this century, under the continuing pressure of global warming, many areas have experienced peaks of temperatures, along with more frequent, more intense, more prolonged warming events than ever met on record. This is notably the case in many ocean regions such as the Mediterranean Sea.<ref>Marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea and beyond - an overview. 2024. pp. 5-24 in ''CIESM Monograph 51’’ ''(F. Briand, Ed.) ISSN 1726-5886'' [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384727584]''</ref> On land heat waves coupled with severe winds are now causing hundreds of major wildfires every year, burning thousands of square kilometers of forests, and threatening the very heart of cities as observed in the January 2025 megafires that destroyed several sectors of Los Angeles.