Scientists: World Must Brace for Extreme Heat Due to Freakishly High Temperatures in US, Canada

There is a need for the world to increase its preparations for extreme heat, which may be hitting faster and harder than formerly forecast, a group of leading climatologists has given warnings in the wake of unusually high temperatures in Canada and the United States.

(Photo : Lachlan Ross)

Heatwave 

The Heat dome last week above Washington state, British Columbia, and Portland, Oregon smashed every day's temperature records by over 9F (5C) in some regions - a spike that would have been said to be out of the question two weeks ago, the experts said, bringing up concerns the climate may have exceeded a dangerous threshold.

An initial analysis of the heatwave, published on Wednesday, discovered that climate change cause by human made the extreme weather not less than 150 times more probable.

Temperatures are increasing all over the world due to greenhouse emissions and scientists have forecasted for a long time that heat records will be broken with rising frequency.

But the new study's authors revealed the latest warming surge was more than even the worst-case scenarios of climate models. This is pushing them to change their understanding of heatwaves and give a thought to the likelihood that other parts of the world, both the UK, could put up with similar temperature jolts.

Also Read: Southwestern US Brace For Brutal Heatwave as Temperature Soars to Triple Digits

Highest Jump in the Record 

Dr. Friederike Otto, the associate director of the environmental change institute at the University of Oxford, who is among the founders of the World Weather Attribution group that made the most recent study said: "This is the highest jump in the record I have ever seen by far, we should certainly not anticipate that heatwaves will behave as they have in the past ... in terms of what we need to get ready for."

Now a primary focus is whether the affected places were simply not lucky or whether the climate system has exceeded a threshold and gotten into a new stage where a little amount of general global heating can bring about a more rapid rise in extreme temperatures.

(Photo : Jess Vide)

Effect of This Heatwave

So far, there is no scientific consensus concerning this, but scientists will now study as a matter of exigency whether extra forms of climate disturbances, like drought or a slowing jetstream, could be increasing heatwaves.

Geert Jan van Oldenborgh of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, another of the authors of the new paper, said that up until 2020, standard climate models had presumed that there was an upper boundary to heatwaves that propelled approximately twice similar speed as broader global heating trends.

Current headlines have given concentration to the United States and Canada, which attained a record of 49.6C at a latitude almost the same as the UK. Over 500 deaths have been connected to the heat, which also prompted forest fires, power cuts, and buckled roads.

Related Article: Record-Breaking Heat Reaches Arctic Circle, Matching Miami's Highest Temperature

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