New Delhi, June 19 (RHC)-- In India, residents of New Delhi remain under a red alert — the highest level of warning — with daytime temperatures soaring past 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  Meteorologists say northern India is in the midst of its longest-ever heat wave, with highs in some areas pushing the limits of what humans can survive.

In Saudi Arabia, at least 14 Muslim worshipers have died of heatstroke during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.  On Sunday, temperatures around the Great Mosque of Mecca reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

In North America, an estimated 260 million people in the U.S. and Canada face temperatures of 90 degrees or higher this week as a persistent heat dome is forecast to settle over cities including Chicago, New York and Toronto. 

Meanwhile, in western states, crews are battling fresh wildfires that have exploded in Los Angeles, Northern California’s Sonoma County, as well as New Mexico and elsewhere.

This comes as dozens of labor and environmental groups petitioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency Monday to include wildfires and extreme heat in its definition of a “major disaster,” as both events are set to get even more frequent and more destructive due to the worsening climate crisis.