Everyone seems to agree that it’s a scorcher, but how willing you are to blame climate change seems to be up for debate.

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It’s hot in the eastern United States. For those that live here, sweaty shirts and panting have become the norm. For those that don’t, let me just tell you that for everyone, except air conditioning salespeople, it is a rather unpleasant experience. But just how hot is it?

There have been no fewer than 40,113 high temperature records set or tied this year already, compared to only 5,835 low records. With more weather stations recording data than ever, that stat might be somewhat misleading, but a 7-to-1 ratio is quite striking. On average, the number of low and high temperatures should be equal.

The past few weeks have been particularly toasty. Record high temperatures have not only been set in many cities for individual days, but also for months and even all-time. Elsewhere, many cities, such as Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, have equalled their all-time records. The fact that these temperatures are being reached in June rather than the traditionally hotter months of July and August is also unusual.

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