A United Kingdom news organization is taking a look at what it terms "unprecedented weather extremes" in the United States over the last nine months and quotes one weather expert as saying that the intensity of temperatures over the last two summers should raise questions.

There have been 10 major weather disasters this year, leaving more than 700 people dead and causing more than $35 billion in damage, The Guardian attributes to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This year has seen three times as many weather-related disasters than what is typical, and NOAA expects summer 2011 figures - due to be released next week - will show the warmest summer on record, The Guardian reports.

"Not since the great heat waves of 1934 and 1936 has the U.S. seen so many heat-related records broken as occurred this summer," Christopher Burt, author of Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book, told The Guardian. "The back-to-back nature of the intensity of the past two summers should raise some interesting questions - questions I am not qualified to address."

The Guardian also reports the USA is not the only place experiencing weather and related extremes. Among other phenomena: