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Nearly 110 million Americans are currently residing in areas flagged by the US weather service as experiencing extreme heat. Tragically, the scorching temperatures in Mexico have caused at least 100 deaths, with temperatures reaching close to 50°C.
This deadly “heat dome” has enveloped several US states, including Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas, prompting warnings of hazardous heat that will persist throughout the weekend. The Gulf coast is expected to see temperatures exceed 43°C (110°F). In Texas, the excessive heat has led to record-breaking demand for power as residents and businesses crank up their air conditioning units.
“This is not your everyday phenomenon; this is highly unusual,” remarked David Roth, a forecaster at the National Weather Service. The extreme heat and humidity have necessitated the issuance of heat advisories.
The Mexican government has attributed over 100 deaths to heat stroke or dehydration during the June heatwave, which lasted three weeks and strained the power grid.
Scientists point to the “heat dome” phenomenon as the cause of these high temperatures. This occurs when a high-pressure system traps heat, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), changes in the ocean temperature gradient in the Pacific Ocean can create the conditions for a heat dome. Specifically, NOAA has observed that the western Pacific has experienced rising temperatures compared to the eastern Pacific over recent decades. As a result, warm air rises and moves eastward before being pulled over land by the northern shifts of the jet stream.
The jet stream, a fast-moving band of air in the upper atmosphere, usually exhibits a wavelike pattern. When these waves become larger, they slow down and eventually become stationary, effectively trapping hot or cold air. Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, explains that climate change is warming the ocean, leading to larger waves in the jet stream. These larger waves, combined with a weakened jet stream caused by reduced temperature differences between the Arctic and the rest of the globe, result in more pronounced north-to-south swings.
Michael Mann, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, acknowledges the complexity of the factors contributing to the current heat dome but asserts that climate change is playing a role in creating persistent jet stream patterns that cause hot air to become trapped over a particular region.
More than half of the deaths in Mexico occurred in the northern state of Nuevo León, which borders Texas, where residents queued outside a hospital to receive water bottles amidst soaring temperatures.
Scientists recently announced the return of El Niño, a weather phenomenon associated with Pacific Ocean warming. While it may be influencing the atmospheric circulation contributing to the current jet stream configuration, NOAA scientists are wary of attributing immediate effects solely to El Niño.
As the US battles extreme heat, record-high sea-surface temperatures have been recorded in the world’s oceans for two consecutive months, as reported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Above-normal sea-surface temperatures have expanded across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
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