When it comes to our climate, everything is connected. And there has never been a year, and most especially a summer, that has so prominently and destructively showcased this.

Right now, wildfires are blazing across the drought-stricken western United States, overpowering firefighters in California. Earlier this summer, the already scorching Middle East saw all-time record heat. Meanwhile, from huge swaths of China to at least four states in the U.S., devastating flooding has inundated homes and uprooted lives.

And we still haven’t arrived at the peak of hurricane season.

The extreme weather events we’ve seen — and are still living through — around the world collectively bear the fingerprints of human-caused global warming. So, too, does the bevy of monthly heat records that have fallen so frequently that the news stories announcing them almost write themselves.