Historic heat wave hits United States, breaking records

With temperatures of well over 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) at Lake Mead, Nevada, it's important to keep cool. The year's first heat wave in the US has a firm grip on the southwestern states, coming sooner than any before. Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas have been hit hardest so far.

On Wednesday evening, the temperature in Las Vegas hit 107 degrees Fahrenheit. On Thursday, it was even higher, at 111 degrees (nearly 44 Celsius). "The past few days have been HOT," said the National Weather Service in Vegas. Many cities in the region canceled outdoor events or moved them inside; others offered residents relief in air-conditioned libraries.

Tourists are still visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona despite the extreme heat but such activities weren't possible everywhere in the state. In Phoenix, for instance, authorities closed a number of hiking trails. In a statement, the local fire department declared that with temperatures hitting 109 degrees Fahrenheit, it was just "not the day for hiking."

Death Valley in California's Mojave Desert is the driest spot in the US. Temperatures here topped 122 degrees Fahrenheit this week, besting Death Valley National Park's previous heat record of 121 degrees set back in 1996. Experts say a high-pressure front over Mexico is fueling the current heat wave.

Even though people in Sacramento, California, have used the hot weather as an opportunity to get out and go fishing, doing so isn't without risk. Though no heat-related deaths have been reported yet, nearly a dozen people were hospitalized after collapsing from heatstroke at a Donald Trump campaign rally in neighboring Arizona.

While the California coast has been largely spared during the current heat wave, the state's interior has already seen a series of smaller forest fires. The most serious of these, located 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Los Angeles, scorched some 1,450 hectares in the Central Valley before firefighters could get flames in the agricultural region under control.

According to a University of California study published on Friday, air pollution from 10 years of forest fires has contributed to the deaths of more than 52,000 people — far more than perished in the fires themselves. California's current heat wave is already sparking fears of another intense fire season this year.

The US isn't the only country suffering high temperatures. Other parts of the globe have also been experiencing record heat. Southeast Asia, for instance, saw temperatures top 125 degrees Fahrenheit in India this May. Studies suggest that by the end of the century, more than 2 billion people could be affected by extreme heat as a result of the climate crisis.