The World from PRX

How people are keeping cool amid record-breaking temperatures

If it’s summer where you are right now, odds are you’ve become intimately familiar with your air conditioner as the US, Europe and other parts of the world hit near-record temperatures.

Climate Change
SDSteven Davy

If it’s summer where you are right now, odds are you’ve become intimately familiar with your air conditioner and electric fan. Or better yet, you’re on a first name basis with the local lifeguard.

It’s hot out. And for many people who live in the somewhat milder summer climates of Europe, the northern US or Canada, record-setting temperatures have made this summer a difficult one.

It’s even hot in Siberia. Really, Siberia. Temperatures there were above 90 degrees in July.

But, people (and animals!) are doing their best to beat-the-heat all over the world. 

Here’s a collection of ways people are staying cool during the heat wave. How are you beating-the-heat? Let us know and drop a comment on our Instagram.

People on inflatable boats enjoy the sun as they watch the Red Bull Cliff Diving competition on Lake Lucerne in Sisikon, Switzerland.
People on inflatable boats enjoy the sun as they watch the Red Bull Cliff Diving competition on Lake Lucerne in Sisikon, Switzerland.Denis Balibouse/Reuters
People cool off at in the Berounka river near Prague, Czech Republic, July 22, 2018.
Water from the Berounka river pours over people near Prague, Czech Republic, July 22, 2018.David W. Cerny/Reuters
Customers are seen laying on a mattress at local grocery store to cool off.
A local grocery store invited customers for a sleepover to cool off as the heat wave continues in Helsinki, Finland, August 4, 2018.Lehtikuva/Heikki Saukkomaa/via Reuters
Residents at the Ter Biest house for elderly persons refresh their feet in a pool in this over-head photograph.
Residents at the Ter Biest house for elderly persons refresh their feet in a pool on a hot summer day, in Grimbergen, Belgium.Yves Herman/Reuters
People cool off in water fountains in Nice, France.
People cool off in water fountains in Nice, France.Eric Gaillard/Reuters
A teenager dives into the Mediterranean Sea in Marseille, France.
A teenager dives into the Mediterranean Sea in Marseille, France.Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters
A man cools off with a shower, setup at the premises of the Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital, during a heat wave in Karachi, Pakistan.
A man cools off with a shower, setup at the premises of the Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital, during a heat wave in Karachi, Pakistan.Akhtar Soomro/Reuters
A child cools off in a fountain as a summer heat wave with high temperatures continues in Paris.
A child cools off in a fountain as a summer heat wave with high temperatures continues in Paris.Regis Duvignau/Reuters
A white tiger cools off in the water at the Biopark zoo in Rome, Italy.
A white tiger cools off in the water at the Biopark zoo in Rome, Italy.Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
Buyan, a Siberian brown bear, is sprayed with water to cool down at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in the suburb of Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Buyan, a Siberian brown bear, is sprayed with water to cool down at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in the suburb of Krasnoyarsk, Russia.Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
A boy jumps into the water in Cairo, Egypt.
A boy jumps into the water in Cairo, Egypt.Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
A women jogs along a roadside as temperatures cool off after sunset in Oceanside, California.
A women jogs along a roadside as temperatures cool off after sunset in Oceanside, California.Mike Blake/Reuters