Hottest summer July 3, 2021 This is just the opening salvo. As the American west is gripped by potentially the worst drought since algebra was invented 1,200 years ago and temperature records are once again shattered on a weekly basis, we are entering into unknown territory. Lytton in Canada reached a staggering 49.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday which is hotter than Las Vegas has ever recorded. Portland topped 46.7 degrees Celsius and this is higher than anything experienced in Houston, Texas. This has been building for a long time, but things are about to get much much worse. Globally, the planet experienced its second hottest year ever recorded in 2019, just 0.4 degrees Celsius cooler than 2016. If 2019 was feeling a little inferior, 2020 arrived on the scene, full of confidence, to claim the prize of warmest year ever recorded on Earth.