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The past three days were quite likely the hottest in Earth’s modern history, scientists said on Thursday, as an astonishing surge of heat across the globe continued to shatter temperature records from North America to Antarctica. The spike comes as forecasters warn that the Earth could be entering a multiyear period of exceptional warmth driven by two main factors: continued emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly caused by humans burning oil, gas and coal; and the return of El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern. (Plumer and Shao, 7/6)

Our brain works hard to coordinate and regulate our body’s temperature. But rising temperatures and humidity make us increasingly susceptible to heatstroke, especially during exercise. “When you overheat your body, you can basically cook your cells, essentially, and that will cause cell death and cell dysfunction,” said Rebecca Stearns, the chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute, a nonprofit housed at the University of Connecticut dedicated to studying and preventing heatstroke in athletes. (Sima, 7/6)

Data show that climate change will continue to raise temperatures in Missouri, and experts and advocates say that people experiencing homelessness are among the most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. When people are overexposed to heat, they can experience severe dehydration, heat stroke, heat exhaustion — or even die. Among weather-related fatalities, heat consistently accounts for the highest number of deaths. Dr. Chris Sampson, an emergency medicine physician with MU Health Care, said that there are several things people can do to protect themselves from dangerous heat exposure. (Spidel and Smith, 7/6)

More than 100 migrants have died from heat this year along the U.S.-Mexico border as the Southwest continues to swelter through record-breaking heat. There were 13 deaths and 226 rescues for dehydration and other heat-related causes last week alone, U.S. Border Patrol chief Jason Owens said Wednesday on Twitter. (Vinall, 7/7)

The Canada fire season, which normally runs from April to September, is barely half over but the country has already surpassed the modern historical record for area burned, with an estimated 8.8 million hectares scorched so far, an area larger than South Carolina. That’s well above the 10-year average of about 805,000 hectares. The previous record of 7.6 million hectares was set in 1989. (Bochove, 7/6)

In the depths of the Animal Care and Control building in Olivette, an unsung group of health department workers known as vector control pore over data to determine where to lay traps in an effort to prevent disease. In the middle of the office, in the 10000 block of Bauer Boulevard, hangs a fake mosquito the size of a Labrador retriever. Below it is a series of tubes and machines. Their purpose: Testing the bug that everyone loves to hate. (Vargas, 7/6)