Last week it was Europe's turn, with a slow-moving "heat dome" that gave almost everybody from the United Kingdom to Poland three consecutive days of record-breaking temperatures. In Germany it hit 41C. That's 106F, if you live in the one country that still clings to British Imperial measures.
This week it's America's turn, with a similar "heat dome" inflicting comparable temperatures on almost everywhere east of the Mississippi River. Even central Canada is heading for temperatures in the mid-30C. Meanwhile the next "heat dome" has already arrived over Spain and Portugal, heading north and east to envelop the rest of the continent.
It's not just Europe and North America. Schools in northern India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have been closed much of the time since late April-early May because of extreme heat, with some pupils set to lose six to eight weeks of classes. You'd almost think that there is some sort of global phenomenon driving these widespread, record-breaking heatwaves.
