What do the heat waves breaking out across Europe, the US, and China all have in common? It could be the way air currents are shaped: Rising temperatures across these areas are all linked by “wavenumber 5,” a pattern of five big waves circling the globe’s jet stream in a U-bend shape called an “omega block,” scientists tell the Financial Times.

Global warming is, of course, the culprit: The Arctic region is the reason we have the North Atlantic jet stream at all, and temps have risen by nearly 1.1°C since the industrial times rolled in. Cold air masses from the north collide with warm air masses from the south to create this fast-flowing air current called a jet stream, and scientists are racing to figure out whether climate change and decreased summer winds from the north are slowing it down. What would that mean for us? More persistent heatwaves in the summer. “If such wave patterns [wavenumber 5] become stagnant and persist over longer periods, then we typically see simultaneous heatwaves,” a climate scientist told FT.

And speaking of climate change and soaring temperatures: A new thermo-satellite could mark a big advancement in global heat mapping. UK-based Satellite Vu plans to operate thermal satellite imaging constellations, coinciding with unprecedented heat waves that are hitting the UK and other countries, the BBC reports. The London firm expects to deliver new thermal data-sets that would measure the temperature profiles of offices, buildings, and factories, and could even help the UK meet its net-zero pledges. The spacecraft will map the ground at mid-wave infrared wavelengths. While most Earth observation satellites can show more, the light wavelengths by Satellite Vu allows for further access and sight to heat energy retained in structures.

What Satellite Vu is saying: “With infrared, what you see in daytime, you can see at night. And whereas most other Earth observation data-sets are looking at the outside of buildings, we can even get an inference of what’s going on inside — whether there's activity in that building, whether a house is occupied, whether there's productive machinery in a factory,” Anthony Baker, CEO and co-founder of Satellite Vu said.