Record Heat Spreads Across U.S.

Photo By: NOAA

Extreme and in many cases record-breaking heat and humidity continues across much of the U.S. this week, as triple-digit temperatures and heat indexes are predicted for the next several days in more than a dozen states.

This photo from NOAA is a still from an animation that shows the "heat dome" morphing without dissipating for the last week.

Dozens of deaths have been blamed on the heat wave, along with severe damage to crops and livestock, exacerbation of persistent drought in the Southwest, a record or near-record wildfire season across much of the South, and other significant impacts.

The record warmth extends far north, too. The extent of ice in the Arctic, the National Snow and Ice Data Center has warned, is at a record-low point for this time of year, with about two months left in the melt season.

The extreme heat in July follows on record heat in June, when 42 high-heat records were met or exceeded across the U.S.

While no one weather event can be linked directly to global climate change, more frequent bouts of extreme heat is one likely consequence.

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