Summer hasn’t even started in the Northern Hemisphere, and thermometers around the globe are already fit to burst.
In India, at least 16 people have died during a pre-monsoon season heatwave as temperatures reach a scorching 116 degrees Fahrenheit, with conditions expected to worsen over the coming days.
Meanwhile, the European continent is currently experiencing one of the worst heat waves on record, the Associated Press reports, with gauges in the United Kingdom recording all-time highs of 94.6 degrees Fahrenheit and 95.1 over a 24-hour period. Seven have already died in France during the hottest day in May in the country’s recorded history, while health officials in Italy have moved to restrict outdoor activity.
While these temperatures might not sound extreme by American standards — the US is a world leader in air conditioning usage, with some 90 percent of households covered — the heat is pushing people and infrastructure to their limits elsewhere in the world.
As a recent report on the UK’s global warming outlook noted, the country is “built for a climate that no longer exists,” with only 5 percent of households boasting AC units.
“While we do occasionally have warm spells in May, what we’re seeing now is unprecedented,” Stephen Dixon, a spokesperson for the UK Met told CNN. “What was around a 1-in-100 year event is now around a 1-in-33 year event.”
Making matters worse is the looming threat of El Niño, a cyclical climate pattern which raises temperatures around the world. That event typically comes once every two to seven years, but the one expected to kick off this summer is massive — forecasted to be nearly as bad as the nearly-apocalyptic heat spell of 1877, which killed millions of people.
Keep in mind, these record heat waves are hitting well ahead of both summertime and El Niño. As researchers have found, ambient global temperatures are already enough to kill elderly and even young people given the right amount of exposure time. In other words, this summer is about to give a whole new meaning to the phrase “jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
More on extreme heat: Earth Screams in Agony as Microplastics Found to Increase Global Warming