As temperatures near and surpass triple digits, many reservoirs in California's Central Valley have diverted more water to cities and farmers during the drought, making rivers shallower and too hot for the fish to develop from eggs, a process which can take at least 60 days to complete. To combat the poor river conditions in the Central Valley, some fish preservation organizations have tried to save the salmon population by launching large scale trucking operations to transport millions of salmon to the San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and other fish farms where they are more likely to survive.

Fueled by climate change, the heat wave is unprecedented in its timing, intensity and scope. Coupled with a catastrophic drought that has damaged crops and shrunk vital reservoirs to all-time lows, the blazing weather is a trademark of human-caused warming.