Photos: Record temperatures continue to sizzle around the world
In Pictures A wave of heat is not loosening its grip on the globe. Phoenix has broken its own streak of blistering hot days, while southern Europeans and millions of people on vacation there broiled under near-record temperatures , and parts of the Middle East tested the limits of what the human body is capable of enduring. Parts of southern Europe have also gone up in flames , with wildfires raging in Greece that forced evacuations and highway closures this week. People returned to their homes on Tuesday when a fire finally receded, after they had spent the night on beaches, in hotels and in public facilities. The heat is expected to worsen again over the next few days. People around the world have been seeking shade and water for respite, including in Lebanon, Spain and Turkey, where even those used to high temperatures felt an unusually sweltering summer. This June was the hottest on record , and July is expected to be even hotter. The world has been in uncharted hot territory for most of the month, according to the University of Maines Climate Reanalyzer. Climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is causing the world to warm, with the Earths average temperature about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial times. That is causing more record-breaking heat and extreme weather events around the world.