On Friday, Basra, Iraq, reached that same torrid temperature, setting an all-time record for that nation. The world's all-time hottest temperature was recorded at 134 degrees in Death Valley in 1913. But Burt questions that measurement.
Heat index readings in the Middle East also reached extreme levels Thursday and Friday, with some spots in Iran and the United Arab Emirates reaching a heat index of 140 degrees due to stifling levels of humidity. However, as the , a heat index reading of 140 degrees is actually beyond the levels the heat index is designed to measure.
Temperatures in the Middle East should cool slightly over the next few days, with no more record heat is likely. On Saturday, the ridge of high pressure bringing the record heat will weaken, Weather Underground reports, bringing temperatures about 10 degrees cooler to Iraq and Kuwait, and about 2-4 degrees cooler to Iran. All of the maps below show temperatures in degrees Celsius. For comparison, temperatures in the low 50s Celsius are equal to temperatures in the high 120s Fahrenheit.
For 400 consecutive months -- that's more than 33 years -- the earth's temperature has been above average, and climatologists aren't mincing words as to why.
The dubious milestone was reported in the April edition of NOAA's monthly global climate report. The report also states that this April had the third-highest temperatures of any April since NOAA began collecting such records in 1880.
"It's mainly due to anthropogenic (human-caused) warming," NOAA climatologst Ahira Sanchez told CNN. "Climate change is real, and we will continue to see global temperatures increase in the future."
