It's been a cruel, cruel summer for millions of people across the Northern Hemisphere. Extreme heat has been blamed for thousands of deaths from India to Egypt, on northward into Europe and west to the Pacific Northwest cities of Seattle and Portland. Even Japan and Hong Kong have set all-time high temperature records and passed historical heat wave markers.

The most recent heat has occurred in parts of Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. On Aug. 7, for example, Berlin hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38.9 degrees Celsius, breaking its all-time hottest temperature record of 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38.6 degrees Celsius.

Temperature departures from average across Europe, the Middle East and Africa on August 12, 2015.

On Aug. 8, Warsaw, Poland, hit its highest August temperature on record, with a high temperature of 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit, eclipsing the previous mark of 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or 36.4 degrees Celsius, AccuWeather and the Washington Post reported.

See also: Precious animals eat icy treats to stay cool in the summer

Unusual heat associated with a large, unyielding heat dome of high pressure will continue to roast large portions of central and eastern Europe for the rest of this week, and after a brief break this weekend, the heat may return for next week, according to the latest weather forecasts. At least 19 cities in the Czech Republic alone have already tied or set new all-time heat records, weather.com reported.

It's not just Europe that is setting records right now.

Unusually extreme heat is also affecting Egypt, a country not known for its temperate summer weather. The country's state-run news agency reported that more than 60 people have died from heat-related illnesses since late July, while 581 people have been hospitalized, as temperatures have soared well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

People walk in Tokyo with sunshades under the scorching sun on August 5, 2015. Image: Kyodo via AP/Associated Press

Temperatures have reached a staggering 114 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 46 degrees Celsius, in southern Egypt, which is unusual for that region. At least 40 people have died since Sunday, according to the AP, including patients in a psychiatric hospital. The heat wave there is expected to last until mid-August, according to the country's weather agency, the Cairo Post reported.

Extreme heat also continues to roast Iraq, where the government has resorted to calling two mandatory day-off periods so far this summer. Temperatures have eclipsed 120 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 49 degrees Celsius, in Baghdad and Basra, two of the country's largest cities. Intermittent power and water services have sparked protests of the government.

In Japan, at least 90 people have died in an unrelenting hot spell, particularly from Tokyo to Hokkaido, according to government data. Tokyo reached at least 95 degrees Fahrenheit, or 35 degrees Celsius, on eight straight days in August, which was unprecedented for that densely populated city, according to the Weather Channel. More than 47,000 have been hospitalized for heat-related illnesses so far this year, most of them elderly patients.

The heat waves began in June before the Indian Monsoon kicked into gear, as high temperatures well into the triple digits Fahrenheit hit India and Pakistan, killing more than 2,000.

While only one of these heat waves has been studied for its links to climate change, global warming is likely playing a significant role in most, or all, of these.

"While it is still true that we won’t ever know the contribution of global warming to any individual event until a formal analysis has been conducted, severe heat is where we have the strongest evidence that global warming has increased the risk of individual extreme events," wrote Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University, in an email to Mashable.

"This is implied by the many observational studies that showing that severe heat events have been increasing, and by the many climate modeling studies showing that rising greenhouse gas concentrations increase the probability of severe heat events."

All-time records are no match for this summer

Temperature records have fallen on several continents, making the summer of 2015 stand out from others that featured record-smashing and deadly heat events, such as 2003, when an August heat wave killed more than 40,000 in Europe.

Temperature anomaly map from June 28, 2015, showing the area of extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest. Image: WeatherBell Analytics

Here are some of the other noteworthy temperature records that have been set so far this summer: