According to scientists at the University of Maine’s Climatic Analysis Program in the US, the current Fourth of July is the hottest day on Earth since records began 40 years ago, although scientists say the worst day is yet to come. Summers will be good compared to the temperature rise in the coming decades.
According to the siteFoxAccording to preliminary readings by US meteorologists, it has exceeded the planet’s average of 17°C for the first time.
According to the US website, the heat index in New York City approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.78 degrees Celsius) this week, a rise that pales in comparison to the 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.89 degrees Celsius) that engulfed parts of Texas. At the end of last June, it broke records for the highest temperature in the United States, strained the power grid, and led thousands of residents to emergency rooms for treatment of heat-related illnesses before more than 10 patients died. .
At the end of June, more than 120 million Americans were under a heat warning, according to the National Weather Service.
Areas outside the US also experienced severe heat waves in the spring and summer. In April, temperatures in Spain reached 38°C; Later, parts of the country recorded a high of 43 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures in Beijing and other parts of China broke records in June, while the heat is said to have contributed to unprecedented wildfires in Canada.
From a scientific point of view, however, the record-breaking heat is nothing to be surprised about, but rather, it is exactly what scientists have long predicted in a warming world fueled by climate change, where fossil fuel emissions are warming the planet. and scorching heat waves.
“(Current) temperature extremes are one of the most visible effects of global warming,” said John Nielsen-Common, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University.
In the coming years, heat waves like those in the US South and Europe are likely to worsen in general, so some experts believe this summer will be one of the coldest, albeit unbearably hot. For decades.
Why is it so hot right now?
On a local scale, heat waves — long periods of above-average temperatures — are often caused by high pressure in the atmosphere, which compresses and warms the air, says researcher Omir Arwan of the Fox website.
A high-pressure system pushes cold, fast-moving air currents outward, pushing clouds away and penetrating the ground unimpeded by the sun. structures, heat energy accumulates rapidly, leading to high temperatures.
This pressure area acts like a cooking pot lid, trapping the heat so it doesn’t dissipate, which is why heat waves are often referred to as “heat domes,” meaning the heat is trapped under the pressure dome.
This heat dome effect is responsible for Texas’ scorching temperatures.
However, there are much broader weather patterns that cause temperatures to rise in specific locations and regions, such as in the state, where large, fast-moving air currents known as the subtropical and polar jet streams appear to oscillate, and how this can affect its regions. Researcher Irfan says the entire country will be covered in blankets of heat.
There is also the El Niño phenomenon, which decreases the east-to-west winds and spreads warm water eastward, thereby “suffocating” cold water and raising global temperatures.
Scientists say the El Nino phenomenon occurs in the Northern Hemisphere winter, and it takes months to feel its warming effect, meaning global temperatures are likely to set new records in 2024, but it may have already contributed. Heat waves at the start of this year’s season in Asia.
And all of these weather events are occurring on a warming planet. While the impact of El Niño (and its counterpart, La Niña) and the jet stream is difficult to predict, the broader effect of climate change is pretty clear: It will make heat waves more common, more intense, and more persistent.
Since the Industrial Revolution began, transportation, factories and power plants have raised Earth’s temperature by about 1.2 degrees Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit), while scientists say the blue planet could exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius. A significant drop in fossil fuel emissions or the spread of technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the air.
Although this increase appears modest, it increases the probability of extreme weather events. For example, the frequency of these climate developments grew from an average of two heat waves per year in the 1960s to six heat waves per year in 2010 and 2020. to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Meanwhile, a typical heat wave in major U.S. cities now lasts a day longer than it did a half-century ago, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
What can we expect for the rest of the summer?
“Unfortunately, we’re expecting a lot of warming from July to September,” says Nielsen-Kamen. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects above-average temperatures for most of the U.S., indicating that no part of the country is in the moderate range. Below average temperatures.
Nielsen-Common says early summer heat waves can lead to a feedback loop, resulting in warmer temperatures later in the summer, especially in the South American plains.
The higher the air temperature, the drier the land, he explained, pointing out that there are less arid lands, eliminating the cooling effect of moisture.
The good news, according to the same researcher, is that meteorologists can predict extreme weather to some extent because they’ve shown that many places will heat up, so cities can theoretically prepare for it.
“Climate change is the main tool we have for predicting summer temperatures in the United States,” he concluded.
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