This July is expected to be the hottest month the world has ever seen, with various areas witnessing historic temperatures:
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Phoenix has faced a 27-day streak of temperatures reaching higher than 110 degrees.
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Miami saw temperatures of 100 degrees for 37 days, with 13 days in a row higher than 106 degrees.
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Texas alone had at least 13 deaths linked to the heat wave as of last month, according to The Associated Press.
“We have very high scientific confidence that the world will continue to experience summers like this one and in fact that the frequency of extreme heat will intensify further in response to further global warming,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University.
He noted that “the climate’s always going to vary,” but added that “we’re already in a climate where what used to be unprecedented heat conditions are now much more likely.”
In a speech on Thursday, President Biden called the effects of climate change undeniable as the country faces brutal summer temperatures.
Background:
- Scientists say climate change bears significant responsibility for the sweltering heat.
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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, every additional 0.9 degrees of global warming causes “clearly discernible increases in the intensity and frequency of hot extremes including heatwaves.”
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Research published this week also found the heat waves affecting the U.S. and southern Europe would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change.
One way that climate change contributes to extreme heat is by increasing the baseline temperature.
But, while climate change is a contributing factor, it is not the only reason heat waves occur.
Andy Hoell, a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said other factors include natural variations in the weather and El Niño — a phenomenon in which winds that blow west along the equator weaken, pushing warm water east toward the West Coast of the U.S.
He said that El Niño is also “driving anomalies in the atmosphere” and is causing “some fraction of the heat waves.”
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
