Washington DC - Climate change is fueling a record-breaking set of heatwaves around the world, sparking wildfires in places that hardly ever go up in smoke.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), climate change, caused by burning fossil fuels and releasing greenhouse gases, is causing 2022's brutal heatwaves across Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The rising summer heat broke records left and right. Around the Northern Hemisphere, temps above 104 degrees Fahrenheit were the norm.

NASA's Earth Observatory used one of its powerful data-crunching programs in the Goddard Earth Observing System to build a map that showed just how hot this summer is getting.

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Modelling chief at GEOS Steven Pawson said, "this large area of extreme heat is another clear indicator that emissions of greenhouse gases by human activity are causing weather extremes that impact our living conditions."

In Africa, the capital of Tunisia, Tunis, suffered 118-degree weather that crushed a 40-year record, as well as fires that destroyed part of the country's grain crops.

The wildfires triggered by the roiling heatwaves raged in places where we usually don't think of fire season, like Birmingham in the UK, where a blaze popped up after days of high temperatures.

Earlier this year, Pakistan and India showed us a preview of not only this year's summer heatwaves, but of what's to come as the climate crisis gets worse.

Heatwaves and wildfires are a major side effect of the worsening climate crisis, and cutting emissions from polluting fossil fuels is one way to end the cycle.