The weather is so chaotic that tourists are risking their lives to take selfies with a giant thermometer in Death Valley

• Temperatures have soared to record highs in many parts of the world, including much of the US.
• People are flocking to the hottest spot of them all in Death Valley, where temps are exceeding 130.
• The weather tourists are taking photos at a digital temperature display.

People will go to some wild lengths for a selfie.

Many of you have probably noticed it is a little warmer than usual outside. Over 106 million people in the US have been living under heat alerts this week, according to MSNBC, and Phoenix just set a record with 19 consecutive days over 110 degrees. Meanwhile, dangerous heat waves in Europe are also causing chaos. 

But the hottest spot of them all is Death Valley National Park, the famously scorching location on the border of California and Nevada. Temperatures in the Valley are nearing 130 degrees this week and have flirted with passing the record for hottest-ever recorded temperature — 134 degrees — which was set at California's Furnace Creek in July 1913. Temps in the Valley even recently hit 120 in the middle of the night, which may have been the record for the hottest midnight temperature ever recorded. 

But the record-setting sizzle isn't deterring tourists. In fact, people are flocking to the desert to see what it feels like and for photo ops with a local landmark: a giant thermometer.

At one point earlier this week, a Weather Channel report showed brave souls hiking through the desert to stand next to the thermometer's 133-degree reading. According to one park ranger who spoke with The Weather Channel, the tourists "want to feel what it feels like to live in such an extreme place.

The thermometer may be inflating things a tad, the park service explained that it reads a few degrees higher than the actual temperature due to the metal frame. So even though the display has gone over 130 degrees several days this week, the highest official temperature was 128 degrees on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Still, the temperatures are no joke. Earlier this month, a 65-year-old man was found dead in his car in Death Valley. The car had two flat tires, and it is believed the man died of extreme heat. According to the National Park Service, the air conditioning in the car was not working, and a heat-related illness may have caused the man to veer off the road.

The National Park Service warns people on their website to "travel prepared to survive," and explains the health risks.

"Heat-related illnesses are caused by your body's inability to cool down properly. The body normally cools itself by sweating, but sometimes sweating just isn't enough. When this happens, the body's temperature rises which can lead to brain damage or injure vital organs. Heat-related illnesses range from treatable symptoms, like heat rash and sunburns, to heat stroke which can lead to death if not treated quickly."

That does not sound like fun.