(Image Source: Clean Break)

BY YOUYOU ZHOU

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

You're watching multisource US video news analysis from Newsy. 

Are you experiencing oppressive heat for days? You are not alone. It is the worst heatwave in more than two decades, hot, humid and widespread. Fox reports --

"It is serious. At least 22 heat related death in 33 states topping 100 degrees. It is very widespread. We are talking about heat advisory's covering 1600 miles of the country from Nebraska to southern Maine. The number of Americans affected estimated to be 140 million."

The death toll is increasing. BBC explains, it's not so much heat, but humidity that makes matter worse.

"The combination of high heat and high humidity makes it hard for the human body to cool itself- because sweat does not evaporate efficiently. There's no good place to be… Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the US."

In Minnesota, farm livestock have been dying from heat stress at a rate not seen in three decades. In South Dakota, 1500 head of cattle have died in the heat. Urban areas have opened cooling centers for the poor and elderly. (Video: ABC)

New York City, which enters its fifth day with a temperature exceeding 100 degree, sees a power demand rising to record high. For fear of outages, the New York City electrical utility Con Edison is paying industrial customers like office building to voluntarily reduce the amount of electricity they're using. Wall Street Journal reports...

According to the National Weather Service, the heatwave is caused by an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere, keeping hot temperature in place. 

Transcript by Newsy.