Earth Bakes In Record Heat: These Are The Hottest Places On The Planet Right Now

Like June -- an exceptionally hot month for several countries in the northern hemisphere, July too seems to be reeling under the scorching monstrous heat too.

Since Friday June 25, at least 486 sudden deaths have been recorded in Canada¡¯s British Columbia province as temperatures soared to nearly 50C (122F). In the United States, the ongoing heatwave has buckled highways and melted power lines, houses and even, roads.

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Heatwave takes over the world

A so-called ¡°heat dome¡±, where high pressure traps the heat, is being blamed for the excessively high temperatures, and its victims many cities across the world, including Nuwaiseeb in Kuwait, Vancouver in Canada, Portland in US, Pakistan's Jacobabad, Delhi, Iran's Omidiyeh and several others in the Middle East.

On July 1, Delhi reeled under a heatwave for a third day on the trot and recorded a maximum temperature of 43.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the highest in July since 2012.

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List of hottest places

Mercury levels in Jacobabad, located in the Sindh province of Pakistan soared to a life-threatening 52 degrees Celsius (126 F) on July 1. The city has always been notorious for its scorching summers.

India Times

On June 29, Lytton, a small town about 200km (124 miles) from Vancouver, hit 49.6C (121F), setting a national record for the highest temperature ever recorded across Canada. Schools, universities and vaccination centres were closed across British Columbia.

Just south of the border in the US state of Oregon, the city of Portland hit an all-time high of 46.6C (116F), breaking the previous high of 41.6C (107F), first set in 1965.

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On June 22, the Kuwaiti city of Nuwaiseeb recorded the highest temperature in the world so far this year at 53.2C (127.7F). In neighbouring Iraq, temperatures reached 51.6C (124.8F) on July 1, 2021, with Omidiyeh, Iran, not far behind with a maximum temperature of 51C (123.8F) recorded so far.

Several other countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia, recorded temperatures higher than 50C (112F) in June. The Gulf is known for its hot and humid climate with temperatures regularly exceeding 40C (104F) in the summer months.

AFP

Hottest temperatures ever recorded

At least 23 countries have recorded maximum temperatures of 50C (122F) or above. Currently, the highest officially registered temperature is 56.7C (134F), recorded in California¡¯s Death Valley back in 1913. The hottest known temperature in Africa is 55C (131F) recorded in Kebili, Tunisia in 1931.

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Iran holds Asia¡¯s hottest official temperature of 54C (129F) which it recorded in 2017. In 2020, Seymour Island in Antarctica recorded a maximum temperature of 20.7C (69.3F).

According to the United Nations¡¯ World Meteorological Organization (WMO), temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula have risen by almost 3C (5.4F) over the past 50 years.

World is getting hotter

A report published by NASA¡¯s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) found that the Earth¡¯s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record.

Reuters

GISS Director Gavin Schmidt said, ¡°The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend. Whether one year is a record or not is not really that important ¨C the important things are long-term trends. With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken.¡±