Cover Story: Why the World is Burning Up This Summer

At 14:30 July 13, the thermometer reading on Shanghai Xujiahui Meteorological Station’s screen topped 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest since records began in 1873.

From Shanghai to Dallas, from Paris to London, a record-shattering heat wave is sweeping the entire northern hemisphere. On the temperature map, areas marked in deep read and orange, indicating temperatures above 35℃, cover wide swathes of Europe, North Africa, North America, East Asia and the Middle East.