Record heat, extreme weather around the world

The United States broke a 118-year heat record in July, and the world has been beset by extreme weather in recent weeks — floods, drought, typhoons, hurricanes and Arctic ice melt — raising concerns of scientists and policymakers. Here are examples of wild weather:

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Monsoons in Manila

Torrential rains flooded half of the Philippine capital. At left, two men hang onto a basketball hoop in floodwaters after a river overflowed in Manila on Aug. 7. At least five people were killed, and seven were missing.

Noel Celis / AFP/Getty Images

The hottest July recorded in the United States

Officials said that lastJuly was the hottest since nationwide temperatures were recorded in 1895. At left, water drips off Hermon Getu after he poured it over his head following a soccer tournament July 1 at RFK Stadium.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Typhoons in Shanghai

People walk in a Aug. 8 rainstorm brought on by Typhoon Haikui in Shanghai. The typhoon slammed into eastern China's Zhejiang province, packing 90 mph winds, producing floods and prompting the evacuation of 1.8 million people. Two other typhoons slammed China, Taiwan and the Philippines this month, causing more than 80 deaths.

/ AP

Hurricane in the Yucatan and Belize

Hurricane Ernesto pushed across the Yucatan Peninsula on Aug. 8, its winds hitting Belize and southern Mexico. At left, a woman sits on her bicycle in the rain late Aug. 7 as Ernesto makes landfall in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mexico.

Victor Ruiz / Reuters

Drought in America's heartland

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the U.S. drought is the worst since the 1950s, and the amount of land under the most severe conditions has tripled since July 11. The Drought of 2012 does not yet compare with the Dust Bowl droughts of the 1930s in terms of duration or intensity. At left, boats sit in a dry cove on a mid-July day at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind.

Michael Conroy / AP

Wildfires (Oklahoma)

Three dozen wildfires fueled by gusty southerly winds and 113 degree heat wave scorched portions of Oklahoma since Aug. 3, demolishing dozens of homes and causing at least one death. At left, a home burns during a large wildfire on Aug. 3 in Luther.

Bryan Terry / AP

Arctic glaciers breaking up

This NASA Earth Observatory image shows a 12.5-square-mile ice island breaking free of the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland. The image was captured by NASA’s Terra satellite on July 21.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Snow in Johannesburg

On Aug. 7, Johannesburg and Pretoria were hit with an unusual snowfall. In some parts of South Africa, the snow was the most substantial since the 1980s.

/ Reuters

Permafrost melting (Point Hope, Alaska)

Climate change has left the Inupiat Eskimo outpost of Shishmaref, Alaska, exposed to severe storms that it didn't face when the seas had been frozen in winter. The increasing temperature has spoiled meat traditionally stored in ice lockers below ground. The town is considering a move inland. At left, teenagers go ice-hoping recently on the Chukchi Sea.

Gilles Mingasson / Getty Images

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