Since scorching heat covering large parts of the Earth, many people are trying to put the extreme temperatures into context and asking: When was it this hot? Globally, 2023 saw some of the the warmest days in modern measurements, but what next, before weather stations and satellites?

Some news sources reported that daytime temperatures reached a 100,000-year high. As paleoclimatologist , who studies temperatures in the past, I understand where this claim comes from, but I cringe at inaccurate headlines. While this claim may be correct, there are no detailed temperature records from 100,000 years ago, so we don't know for sure. (Darrell Kaufman)