The Midwest is freezing. Australia is burning. This map shows just how dramatic that is.


The U.S. has been hit by a polar vortex. Australia is experiencing the polar opposite.
The Midwest is currently pulling out of a deadly cold week, where Chicago dropped to a low of 23 degrees below zero and Minnesota saw 77 degrees below zero with wind chill. Meanwhile, southern Australia has reached a record-breaking 121 degrees Fahrenheit, and things are only expected to get worse. That all makes for an incredibly dramatic contrast on the Dark Sky weather app, as posted by astrophysicist Grant Tremblay.
At least 21 deaths have been reported due to the cold weather, which can induce hypothermia and frostbite in minutes, per HuffPost. Temperatures largely broke their subzero streak Friday, and are expected to spike into the 40s over the weekend in Chicago.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yet in Australia, the government started Friday with a warning that Melbourne "could see its hottest day in ten years." Months of excruciating heat has killed horses and millions of fish, and is estimated to have wiped out a third of the continent's bats. Things aren't expected to cool until Monday, and no human deaths have been reported yet.
And yes, this extreme weather is likely stemming from human-made climate change.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston Martin
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Renewables top coal as Trump seeks reversal
Speed Read For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal, said a new report
-
China vows first emissions cut, sidelining US
Speed Read The US, the world’s No. 2 emitter, did not attend the New York summit
-
How clean-air efforts may have exacerbated global warming
Under the Radar Air pollution artificially cooled the Earth, ‘masking’ extent of temperature increase
-
Earth's seasons are out of whack
Under the radar The seasons' unfixed nature in different regions of the planet may have impacted biodiversity and evolution
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquake
speed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
When does autumn begin?
The Explainer The UK is experiencing a 'false autumn', as climate change shifts seasonal weather patterns
-
How 'freakosystems' are becoming the norm
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?
The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides