Weather experts are calling it the hottest summer in recorded history.

Temperatures soaring above 30°C have hit Europe, central and eastern parts of the US, and western Asia.

In Russia the heatwave destroyed milions of hectares of crops and prompted a state of emergency to be declared in 17 regions.

In Germany roads have melted and fish have been dying because there is not enough oxygen in the rivers.

And in Greece homes have been evacuated as wildfires spread out of control near Athens, the country's capital.

Is it just freak weather? Or is this evidence of climate change? And will it get worse?

Inside Story, with presenter Shiulie Gosh, discusses with Phil Thornhill, from the Campaign Against Climate Change in the UK, Bharat Desai, a climate and international environmental law expert from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Michael Grubb, the chair of climate strategies at Cambridge University.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Sunday, July 18, 2010.