Wondering how this summer’s blistering heat or last winter’s bone-chilling cold snap compared with previous years? Or want to know how much heat stress climate change is bringing to your area — or in an area you’re planning to move to? There’s an app for that. The new Thermal Trace app allows users to explore how both heat and cold stress are changing around the world. The app combines observed and modeled measurements of ambient temperature, wind speed, humidity and radiation along with a physiological model to come up with a “feels-like” temperature — a measure of thermal stress (which can feel far different than the temperature reading on your thermometer). The data set stretches from 1940 until five days before present and can be visualized as maps, charts and graphs, or downloaded for free. Thermal Trace was developed by the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Heat stress around the world on Sept. 17, 2025. The Thermal Trace app allows users to look at temperature, “feels-like” temperature, and thermal stress categories anywhere in the world, from 1940 to five days before present. Image courtesy of Thermal Trace. How hot does ‘hot’ feel? Both heat and cold can be physiologically stressful, creating a sense of discomfort as our bodies strive to maintain a constant body temperature. They can also have profound short- and long-term health impacts, including death. As climate change impacts ramp up, heat waves are increasingly more intense and…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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