Just like what happens in an oven... climate change has increased periods of heat waves

Arabia Weather - A recent study revealed that climate change leads to massive heat waves that move slowly around the world, affecting a larger number of people for longer periods through higher temperatures over larger areas. Since 1979, the movement of global heat waves has slowed by 20%, Which means more people are staying in the heat longer, and the frequency of their occurrence has increased by 67%, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. The study found that the highest temperatures in heat waves are higher than they were 40 years ago, and the areas exposed to heat have increased.

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Just like in the oven

The study also indicated that heat waves have become more intense and comprehensive with the passage of time, as they increase in temperature, area, duration of duration, and movement across continents, according to climate scientists Wei Zhang from Utah State University and Gabriel Lau from Princeton University.

From 1979 to 1983, global heat waves lasted on average about 8 days, but between 2016 and 2020, they extended up to 12 days. Eurasia was the hardest hit and longest exposed to persistent heatwaves, and heatwaves slowed down for the longest periods in Africa, while North America and Australia experienced the greatest increases in temperature and the greatest extent of areas hit by heatwaves.

Michael Weiner, a climate scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who was not involved in the study, said:

“This study sends a clear warning that climate change is making heat waves more dangerous in more ways than one.”

Scientists explained that just like what happens in an oven , when heat waves last longer, what is inside it becomes more cooked, and in this case what is inside it becomes humans.

What are the reasons for this change?

The team ran a computer simulation that showed this change was due to greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas. The study found the footprint of climate change by simulating a world with no greenhouse gas emissions, concluding that these emissions are the cause of the worsening heat waves observed in The last 45 years.

The study also looked at changing weather patterns that spread heat waves. Zhang said that the weather waves that drive weather systems, such as jet streams, are getting weaker, making them not move heat waves as quickly - from west to east on most continents. This shows “how heat waves develop in three dimensions, moving regionally and across continents rather than looking at temperatures at individual locations,” explained Kathy Jacobs, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona, who was not involved in the study.

Jennifer Francis, a scientist at the Woodwell Center for Climate Research, who was not involved in the study, concluded:

"One of the direct consequences of global warming is an increase in heat waves. These results put a big exclamation mark on that fact."

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