Periods of extreme heat are becoming more frequent, intense and longer-lasting as climate change warms the planet, the UN ‌weather agency said Tuesday, noting changes since the famously hot European summer of 1976. "Extreme heat ⁠is becoming more frequent, more intense, it's lasting longer, and covering much wider areas than in the cooler climates of the past," John Kennedy, the World Meteorological Organization's head of climate ⁠information, told a press briefing in Geneva. The high-pressure ‌systems trap warm air, reduce cloud cover and block cooler air from moving in, ‌allowing heat to ‌build over large regions for days or weeks. Dry ground was also intensifying the heat ​because soils warm more quickly once moisture is depleted. "Lots of these factors are coming together to give us the record heat that we're seeing this year," Kennedy stated.