 Alyssa Nadworny, NPR News. At least a dozen Western states have broken heat records in the past week. And NPR's Julia Simon reports that scientists blame climate change. When Joe Paschal moved to Palm Springs, California about 17 years ago, he'd get a break from the summer heat in the evening and mornings. It would be relatively cool and you could enjoy outside. That doesn't exist for us anymore. And that's a huge loss.