Newly-confirmed Arctic record 100 degree heat in Siberia setting off climate change "alarm bells," U.N. says

The United Nations on Tuesday officially recognized the 38 degrees Celsius measured in Siberia last year as a record high for the Arctic, sounding "alarm bells" about climate change.

The sweltering heat -- equivalent to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit -- was seen on June 20, 2020 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, marking the highest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle, the World Meteorological Organization said. 

This is the first time the WMO has added record heat in the Arctic to its archive of extreme weather reports, and it comes amid an unprecedented wave of record temperature spikes globally, the U.N. agency said.