{"id":253228,"date":"2021-07-27T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=541615"},"modified":"2021-07-27T10:15:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T10:15:00","slug":"huge-heat-dome-expected-to-bring-punishing-temperatures-to-the-us-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/07\/27\/huge-heat-dome-expected-to-bring-punishing-temperatures-to-the-us-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Huge \u2018heat dome\u2019 expected to bring punishing temperatures to the US. Again."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story was originally published by The Guardian<\/a> and is reproduced here as part of the <\/em>Climate Desk<\/em><\/a> collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most extensive heat wave of a scorching summer is set to descend upon much of America this week, further roasting areas already gripped by severe drought, plunging reservoirs and wildfires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A massive \u201cheat dome\u201d of excessive heat will settle across the heart<\/a> of the contiguous United States from Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast, bringing elevated temperatures to the Great Plains, the Great Lakes, the northern reaches of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, and California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Places used to more mild summers are set for punishing heat, with temperatures expected to breach 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) in the Dakotas and Montana, a state in which the city of Billings has already experienced 12 days above 95 degrees F (35 degrees C) this month. Areas of states including Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma may get \u201csweltering\u201d temperatures reaching 110 degrees F (43 degrees C), NOAA said<\/a>, while cities such as Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Chicago will get significantly above-average heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest, but most expansive, in a parade of heat waves to sweep the U.S. is likely to bring thunderstorms and lightning to some areas, as well as worsen drought conditions ranked as \u201csevere\u201d or \u201cexceptional\u201d that now cover two-thirds of the U.S. West<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate scientists have said the barrage of heat waves over the past month, which have parched farms, caused roads to buckle and resulted in the obliteration of long-standing temperature records, are being fueled by predicted human-caused climate change \u2013 but admit to being surprised at the ferocity of the onslaught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"us
Heat dome over North America, showing high temperatures predicted across the continent.\n NOAA<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a severe and dangerous summer, some of the heat waves have been devastatingly hot,\u201d said Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. \u201cWe certainly expected these type of temperatures as global warming continues, but I don\u2019t think anyone anticipated they would be so hot right now. I don\u2019t think we could\u2019ve expected so many heat waves in the same general region in one summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most extraordinary of the recent heat waves occurred in the Pacific Northwest in June<\/a> where the normally mild region was bathed in heat that broke temperature records by more than 10 degrees F (5.5 degrees C). The heat, which caused hundreds of people to die in cities including Seattle and Portland, where it reached 116 degrees F (46 degrees C), has caused several scientists to question their previous estimates of how the climate crisis will reshape heat wave severity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou expect hotter heat waves with climate change but the estimates may have been overly conservative,\u201d Wehner said. \u201cWith the Pacific Northwest heat wave you\u2019d conclude the event would be almost impossible without climate change, but in a straightforward statistical analysis from before this summer you\u2019d also include it would be impossible with climate change, too. That is problematic, because the event happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wehner said the ongoing heat waves should prompt governments and businesses to better prepare for the health impacts of high temperatures, which range from heatstroke to breathing difficulties caused by smoke emitted from increasingly large wildfires<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe good news is that heat waves are now on people\u2019s radars a bit more,\u201d he said. \u201cBut these sort of events are completely unprecedented, you expect records to be beaten by tenths of a degree, not 5 degrees F or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a teachable moment in many ways for the public that climate change is here and now and dangerous. It isn\u2019t our grandchildren\u2019s problem, it\u2019s our problem. But it\u2019s been a teachable moment for climate scientists too.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Grist<\/a> with the headline Huge ‘heat dome’ expected to bring punishing temperatures to the US. Again.<\/a> on Jul 27, 2021.<\/p>\n


\r\nThis content originally appeared on Grist<\/a> and was authored by Oliver Milman.
<\/p>\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week’s heat wave will roast areas already gripped by severe drought, plunging reservoirs, and wildfires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,8923,13812,27150],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/412"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253244,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253228\/revisions\/253244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}