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SOURCE: Washington Post

DATE: July 6, 2018

SNIP: The planet’s hottest continent probably just endured its hottest weather ever reliably measured.

An Algerian city soared to 124.3 degrees (51.3 Celsius) Thursday, adding to the onslaught of records for extreme heat set around the planet during the past 10 days.

The blistering-hot temperature reading, observed in Ouargla, is probably the highest temperature ever reliably measured both in Algeria and in all of Africa. Ouargla, with a population of nearly half a million, is located in north central Algeria, roughly midway between Morocco and Tunisia.

This probable all-time heat record is one of many set over the past 10 days because of numerous intense heat domes scattered around the Northern Hemisphere.

Locations where heat records have been set include:

  • In North America: Denver; Montreal; Mount Washington, N.H., and Burlington, Vt.
  • In Europe: Glasgow, Scotland, Shannon, Ireland, Belfast, and Castlederg, Northern Island
  • In Eurasia: Tbilisi, Georgia and Yerevan, Armenia
  • In the Middle East: Quriyat, Oman, which posted the world’s hottest low temperature ever recorded on June 28: 109 degrees (42.6 Celsius).

While no single heat record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming, collectively, this large group is consistent with the kind of extreme heat we expect to see increase in a warming world.