Wakodahatchee wetlands, Delray Beach, Florida, US. Equipped with sinewy necks and spear-like bills, great blue herons can lunge with fearsome speed to strike their aquatic prey. Adults will also employ rapid stabbing motions as one aspect of their complex courtship displays; they’re seemingly dangerous moves, but fitting to the intensity of mating season. (Photo by Melissa Rowell/Audubon Photography Awards)

The northeastern United States sweltered this week in a scorching summer heat wave, complete with stagnant, sticky air and no winds for relief, forecasters said. Even in a summer already filled with stretches of very hot weather, this week will be stubbornly brutal, with no relief in sight until the weekend brings thunderstorms to the region, they said. "Plain and simple, this week may feel the worst of any week for this summer in the Northeast," said Accuweather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. (Reuters)

Aerial photo taken on March 4, 2017 shows cole flower fields in Luoping County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo by Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

Open jaws of a Great White Shark Carcharodon Carcharias, South Africa. (Photo by Stephen Frink Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)

Members of the Apocalyptic Marauders group in their post-apocalyptic outfits and gear, including a flame thrower in Henrichenburg, Waltrop, Germany on August 13, 2023. Steampunk fans, groups and visitors, many in retro-futuristic or Victorian inspired outfits, have fun on the second day of the Steampunk Jubilee Festival weekend at the historic Henrichenburg boat lift, a listed industrial heritage site landmark. (Photo by Imageplotter/Alamy Live News)

Squirrels are seen on a tree branch at a park as temperatures rise with the arrival of spring season in Ankara, Turkiye on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Evrim Aydin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Freshmen in Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management head bottles of mineral water for upright stand during military training on September 17, 2015 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China. More than 6,800 freshmen in the school are required to take part in the military training. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

Members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) demonstrate their skills on motor-bikes during the BSF Golden Jubilee Day celebration in New Delhi on December 1, 2015. (Photo by Money Sharma/AFP Photo)