Abstract： In the summer of 2022, the Yangtze River Basin experienced unprecedented heatwaves, which aroused wide attention from the scientific community. Affected by over a month of record-breaking high temperature and drought, this extreme event has not only caused increasingly serious losses to humans, economic and environment, but exacerbated food insecurity and hindered sustainable development. Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of the extreme heat in the Yangtze River Basin in the summer of 2022 is essential for understanding the causes of changes in extreme events under the context of global warming, and for recognizing the impacts of human activities and natural variability, as well as evaluating the potential climate risks. The study firstly reviews the main characteristics, formation mechanisms and causes of the extreme high temperature in the Yangtze River Basin in the summer of 2022, and further summarizes the research progress of the 2022 summertime heat extremes in the last three years. Results show that 2022 summertime high temperature in the Yangtze River Basin is a rare extreme heat event. The occurrence of this event was mainly caused by the atmospheric circulation anomalies due to the western Pacific subtropical High and the South Asian High, the triple La Nina, the Atlantic and Indian SST forcing, and the land-atmosphere feedback (e.g., soil moisture and air temperature). In addition to the contribution of natural variability, human activities are also the main factors influencing the heat extremes. Without anthropogenic forcing, it is almost impossible to happen. Such rare extreme heatwaves are projected to become much more common under global warming. Finally, this study discusses the relevant research points and problems of the extreme high temperature.