New Delhi, July 24 -- A relentless and expanding heat wave is impacting large swathes of the United States, with over 130 million Americans currently under Extreme Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

As per a report in Newsweek, the brunt of the heat is being felt across 11 states - Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama - where overnight temperatures are hovering in the upper 70s to low 80s, providing little to no relief from daytime extremes.

The heat wave is driven by a persistent upper-level high-pressure system, commonly referred to as a heat dome, anchored over the eastern US. The NWS warns that this dome i...