Though the calendar says that 11 days remain until the first day of summer, temperatures in much of the northern hemisphere are already sweltering. Large parts of the American northeast experienced record high temperatures this week, while dry, hot weather in the American southwest and eastern Russia sparked numerous wildfires. Today's collection shows some of the ways people (and animals) have been coping with or enjoying the late spring heat.
Summer Is Nearly Here
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Clouds frame Marquet Campbell while he jumps from the high dive at the Bishop Park pool in Athens, Georgia, as it opens for the summer on Saturday, May 28, 2011. Lifeguards managed the facility's capacity of 150 pool-goers splashing, swimming and sunbathing to start the Memorial Day weekend. #
AP Photo/Athens Banner-Herald, David Tulis -
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany steers his car as two sunbathers relaxes on a terrace during the qualifying session at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, on Saturday, May 28, 2011. #
AP Photo/Luca Bruno -
Linkous Sharp of Nashville, Tennessee, flips water out of his hair as he cools off during the opening day of the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, on Thursday, June 9, 2011. #
AP Photo/Dave Martin -
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Lightning streaks across the sky while Athens-Clarke Firefighters work to extinguish a hay fire that was caused by a lightning strike, on Thursday, May 26, 2011, in Athens, Georgia, Firefighters responded to many small fires caused by downed powerlines from a severe thunderstorm. #
AP Photo/Athens Banner-Herald, David Manning -
Surfer Tyler Hollmer Cross of Australia rides an 8-meter wave at Shipstern Bluff near Hobart in Tasmania March 17, 2011. According to local media reports, surfers were towed by jetski into one of the biggest swells seen at Shipstern Bluff, formerly known as Devil's Point, in 10 years. Picture taken on March 17, 2011. #
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A traveller washes his horse in the River Eden in preparation for selling at the Appleby Horse Fair on June 3, 2011 in Appleby, England. Appleby Horse Fair has existed under the protection of a charter granted by James II since 1685. #
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Tyler Makarewicz , 3, left, and neighbor Jeweliana Kilpatrick, 7, play in a wading pool as Tylers' father, Stanley Wakarewicz supervises, on Thursday, June 9, 2011, in south Philadelphia. #
AP Photo/Matt Slocum -
People cool off in the lower Salt River Saturday, May 28, 2011 in the Tonto National Forest in Mesa, Arizona, Temperatures were expected to peak at 99 degrees on Saturday, just shy of the century mark. #
AP Photo/Matt York -
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Buddhist novice monk Kyaw Thiha plays during heavy rainfall at Shin Ohtama Tharya monastery in Yangon May 31, 2011. Entering monkhood is a rite of passage for many Myanmar boys, although most of them spend a few days to a few months rather than as a lifetime commitment. #
Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun -
An Emergencies Ministry MI-8MTV-2 helicopter carries water before releasing it over the burning Taiga wood near the village of Boguchany, about 560 km (348 miles) northeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, June 2, 2011. Dry, hot weather, dry thunder storms and human factors influenced the distribution of the fires in Siberia, according to Emergencies Ministry members. #
Reuters/Ilya Naymushin -
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An Afghan man swims in a public swimming pool in Kabul June 10, 2011. The temperature in the city was hovering around 33 degrees C (91 F) and is expected to climb in the coming days. #
Reuters/Omar Sobhani -
A dog lands in the cooling waters of the James River after being gently tossed in by her owner, left, just east of the Boulevard Bridge in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday, June 9, 2011. #
AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, P. Kevin Morley -
A woman pours water to cool her daughter as they visit Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's living area during a ceremony marking his death anniversary in northern Tehran, on June 3, 2011. #
Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl -
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A man rides his wheelchair during hot weather at Montrose beach in Chicago, on June 8, 2011. Temperatures peaked Wednesday within a few degrees of the 97-degree 1933 record. #
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh -
Youths gather to watch as a teenager dives into the Mediterranean Sea to escape the scorching heat of the Libyan summer in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, on Wednesday, June 8, 2011. #
AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd -
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A pedestrian checks his phone while crossing 34th Street in Manhattan as the sun sets on New York, June 8, 2011. Temperatures soared over 90 degrees in New York as a heat wave baked a large part of the U.S. #
Reuters/Gary Hershorn -
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Firefighters battle a multi-alarm blaze that spread from an abandoned tire factory to nearby row homes Thursday, June 9, 2011 in Camden, New Jersey, Dozens of firefighters from Camden and surrounding communities battled the blaze in near 100-degree temperatures. #
AP Photo/Camden Courier-Post, Chris LaChall -
Corey Brown, 20, of Enfield, Connecticut, and his dog, Odie, take a dip at the rapids on the Scantic River, as temperatures climbed over 90 on Wednesday June 8, 2011, in Enfield, Connecticut. #
AP Photo/The Journal Inquirer, Leslloyd F. Alleyne -
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Former Seattle Pacific University gymnast Heather Garcia, 23, practices on a log at Seattle's Golden Gardens Park as temperatures climb into the mid 70s on Sunday, June 5, 2011. Seattle saw some of the highest temperatures of 2011 over the weekend. #
AP Photo/ Seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo
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