It is claimed the northern hemisphere is in the grip of an almost unprecedented heatwave.
A heat map from a University in the US shows cities have had to deal with exceptionally high heat this week.
Dramatic images from the University of Maine, show the extent to which the hot weather has impacted large areas of the globe.
Environmental Journalist, John Gibbons, says the driver behind the soaring temperatures is climate change: "We are looking at a hemisphere-wide event which is quite unusual in weather terms and obviously here in Ireland we're benefiting from the good weather here at the moment.
"But in Canada, for example, there have been numerous fatalities from extreme temperatures and this stretches right from Russia to Europe and right across Canada so it's an almost unprecedented heat event in the northern hemisphere.
"And it is being fueled basically by rising global temperatures, the signature which is driving this process is climate change."
Digital Desk
