Study links heat waves in the US to climate change

• WWA finds that the extreme heat in the US would not have been possible without climate change.
• The study links the “heat dome” to the extreme heat through WBGT readings, which may indicate the severity of heat stress.
• The study estimates that the heat could have affected 250-year-old events in the US for France matchday — Paraguay — Argentina.

Research by World Weather Attribution (WWA) states that the extreme heat and high temperatures in the US this summer could have been caused by climate change, increasing the likelihood of 250-year extreme heat events.

The material also says that the heat is driven by the “heat dome” (persistent high-pressure system), which traps heat over the central and eastern parts of the US, while also intensifying the heat in the Canadian region.

According to the study, daily heat in some regions could reach above 100°F (38°C), and the heat stress would be significantly higher. As the report notes, Wet Bulb Globe Temperatures (WBGT), which, according to the report, can indicate the level of heat stress, may be particularly dangerous.

WWA attributes the scenario to climate models: more frequent and more intense “heat dome” events. The researchers also say that climate change increases the likelihood of such WBGT events by making the “heat dome” conditions more likely, and that the probability of such events occurring is increased by up to 5,000 years.

However, the study also points out that the same climate factors can also increase the risk of heat waves in other regions: for example, by up to 200 years. The material also adds that, for the purposes of comparing the effects of climate change, the researchers used climate models and considered the El Nino phenomenon in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which may affect heat waves in North America.

In addition, a forecast suggests that the heat could be even more intense in the future. The study also says that the heat could affect the World Cup in Qatar: for a match between France and Paraguay, the risk of WBGT above 82°F could start as early as the beginning of the match, and for the match between Cuba-Verdet and Argentina, the risk could begin on the day of the match in the morning.

As the author, Theodore Keeping, a researcher at Imperial College London, notes, the climate “heat dome” is a dangerous phenomenon, and it would not have been as severe without climate change. Friederike Otto, a professor of climate at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, explains that the findings show how human activity increases the risk of extreme heat.

Tags: Weather/USA/Research