The distribution of the heatwaves points to global warming as the culprit. Photo / Supplied
The distribution of the heatwaves points to global warming as the culprit. Photo / Supplied
From the normally mild summer climes of Ireland, Scotland and Canada to the scorching Middle East, numerous locations in the Northern Hemisphere have witnessed their hottest weather ever recorded over the past week.
Large areas of heat pressure or heat domes scattered around the hemisphere led to the sweltering temperatures.
No single record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming. But collectively, these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see increase in a warming world.
Let's take a tour around the world of the recent hot-weather milestones.
A massive and intense heat dome has consumed the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southeast Canada since late last week. It's not only been hot but also exceptionally humid. Here are some of the notable all-time records set:
• Denver tied its all-time high-temperature record of 40.5 Celsius on Thursday.
• Mount Washington, New Hampshire, tied its all-time warmest low temperature of 15.5C on Monday.
• Burlington, Vermont, set its all-time warmest low temperature ever recorded of 26.6C on Monday.
• Montreal recorded its highest temperature in recorded history, dating back 147 years, of 36.6C on Monday. The city also posted its most extreme midnight combination of heat and humidity.
• Ottawa posted its most extreme combination of heat and humidity on Sunday.
Europe
Excessive heat torched the British Isles late last week. The stifling heat caused roads and roofs to buckle, the Weather Channel reported, and resulted in multiple record highs:
• Scotland provisionally set its hottest temperature on record. The UK Met Office reported Motherwell, about 20km southeast of Glasgow, hit 33.2C on Thursday, passing the previous record set in August 2003 at Greycrook. Additionally, Glasgow had its hottest day on record, hitting 31.9.
• In Ireland, on Thursday, Shannon hit 32C, its record.
• In Northern Ireland, Belfast hit 29.5C on Thursday, its record, and Castlederg hit 30.1C on Friday, its record
Eurasia
A large dome of high pressure, or heat dome, has persistently sat on top of Eurasia over the past week, resulting in some extraordinarily hot weather:
• In Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, the capital city soared to 40.5C, its all-time record.
• In Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday, the capital city soared to 42C, a record high for July and tying its record for any month.
Hot weather throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
• Several locations in southern Russia topped or matched their warmest June temperatures on record on Thursday.
Quriyat, Oman, posted the world's hottest low temperature ever recorded on June 28: 42.6C.
Hot ... getting hotter
These various records add to a growing list of heat milestones set over the past 15 months that are part and parcel of a planet that is trending hotter as greenhouse gas concentrations increase because of human activity:
• In April, Pakistan posted the hottest temperature ever observed on Earth during the month of 50.2C.
• Dallas had never hit 32.2C in November before, but it did so three times in four days in 2017.
• In late October, temperatures soared to 42.2C in Southern California, the hottest weather on record so late in the season in the entire United States.
• On September 1, San Francisco hit 41.1C, smashing its all-time hottest temperature.
• In late July 2017, Shanghai registered its highest temperature in recorded history, 40.9C.
• In mid-July, Spain posted its highest temperature recorded when Cordoba Airport (in the south) hit 46.9C.
• In July 2017, Death Valley, California, endured the hottest month recorded on Earth.
• In late June 2017, Ahvaz, Iran, soared to 53.7C Fahrenheit - that country's all-time hottest temperature.
• In late May 2017, the western town of Turbat in Pakistan hit 53.5C, tying the all-time highest temperature in that country and the world-record temperature for May, according to Masters.
