Graph after graph tracking this year’s soaring global temperatures reveal that not only were the numbers higher than ever recorded in many places around the world, but the deviation from the norm was also astonishingly large.
The Southern Hemisphere had a particularly sweltering winter and early spring, with temperatures in August and September soaring above 40° C across parts of Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. In some areas, daytime temperatures were about 20 degrees C above normal. Madagascar also had its warmest October on record, with some spots 2.5 degrees C above average.
Extreme heat can also lead to heat stroke, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and death. And heat-related deaths have been on the rise for years. This year, heat contributed to an especially bad fire season in the Boreal region, a colossal area that wraps around the Earth just south of the Arctic Circle and contains close to one-third of the world’s forests. The largest intact stretch of this forest lies in Canada, which had its worst fire year on record.