Walking on hot red sand is hard work, especially when the temperature exceeds 40°C (104°F). After about 40 minutes you are soaked, dehydrated and exhausted. It is hard to imagine doing this for 40 days with all your gear, including 40 liters of water for five days, on a two-wheeled trolley. But that is exactly what my traveling companions did.
I'm in the Nahud Desert, a vast expanse of sand and rocky wilderness in northern Saudi Arabia, to experience the almost unbearable heat and meet up with 20 other people who are part of an expedition. Deep ClimateHe is dedicated to understanding how humans respond to extreme situations. “The aim is to study how humans adapt to new kinds of environments,” he says. Christian Clotteleader of the expedition and director of the French Institute of Human Adaptation.
This problem becomes even more pressing as the climate gets warmer: even in the most optimistic scenarios, heatwaves exceeding 40°C, as observed in southern Europe and across the United States over the past few months, will become the norm in many parts of the world.
So the question of what happens to our brains and bodies, and how well the human physiology can handle extreme heat, is a question that matters to millions of people. “We're going to see large swaths of densely populated areas rise to unprecedented temperatures that nobody has seen in historical climates,” he said. Tim Renton He is a researcher at the University of Exeter in the UK and recently co-authored a research paper titled “…
California is set to implement state-first regulations aimed at protecting indoor workers from the heat.
The policy, which could go into effect later this summer, would require employers to provide water, breaks, and places to cool down if indoor temperatures reach 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
The only other states that mandate similar protections are Oregon and Minnesota.
California is poised to pass the state’s first regulations to protect people who work indoors from extreme heat, a policy that could take effect as soon as later this summer.
The California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) Standards Committee unanimously voted Thursday to approve heycircle circleOak Place RulesThis will send the standards to the state’s Office of Administrative Law for quick final approval, meaning the standards could go into effect by early August.
The heat plan was originally scheduled to go into effect in 2019 but faced a five-year delay. If enacted into law, the policy would protect about 1.4 million warehouse workers, restaurant employees, manufacturing workers, and other indoor workers from dangerously hot working conditions.
The regulations require employers to monitor employees for heatstroke and provide hydration, breaks, and cool areas if indoor temperatures reach 82 degrees Fahrenheit. If temperatures reach 87 degrees Fahrenheit, employers must take further measures, such as providing more breaks, adjusting work schedules, slowing down work pace, and providing air conditioning.
If these rules go into effect, California would join Oregon and Minnesota as the only states with policies to protect indoor workers from the heat. In 2006, California passed heat standards for outdoor workers, including those in agriculture and construction.
Meanwhile, in Texas and Florida, recent state laws have weakened workplace protections against extreme heat by prohibiting cities and counties from enacting local regulations to protect outdoor workers, such as requiring water breaks or time in the shade.
Labor advocates have been pushing for national workplace heat standards for indoor and outdoor workers, but the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has yet to adopt such rules.
Advocates say California-style regulations are needed more urgently than ever as heat waves become more frequent and intense due to climate change.
“This is huge,” said Anastasia Nicole Wright, policy manager at WorkSafe, a non-profit worker advocacy group based in Oakland, Calif. “Workers need these protections as soon as possible.”
But the state’s new requirements don’t protect all indoor workers. For now, they exempt employees of state and local correctional facilities, as well as other prison staff. In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration revised the standards to exempt the state prison system, questioning how much it would cost to bring the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation into compliance with the requirements.
Some labor advocates believe the temperature standards set in California’s policy are still too high.
“The risk of heatstroke depends on both temperature and humidity, but it also has a lot to do with physical demands,” says Tim Shaddix, legal director for the Warehouse Workers Resource Center, an advocacy group based in Ontario, Calif. “If a warehouse worker is lifting heavy boxes for an eight- or 10-hour shift, they’re at risk for heatstroke even when temperatures are in the high 70s.”
Shaddix added that he hopes California’s restrictions will inspire other parts of the country to implement similar rules.
“As summer temperatures rise due to climate change, the problem is only going to get worse, so it’s really important that we see progress and we see more models that encourage other states to follow,” he said. “And that’s the push at the federal level, and we really need that, because we have to make sure that workers across the country are protected.”
More people die from heatstroke each year in the United States than from any other extreme weather event. In 2022, 43 people died from exposure to ambient heat in the workplace, up from 36 in 2021. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Robert Mootrie, senior policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, said California employers are “moving into compliance mode,” but added that certain industries, such as restaurants, will bear a greater burden because kitchens are essentially hot, enclosed spaces.
Mootrie also said small businesses in particular have expressed concerns about how to best implement the rules when they come into effect in just a few months.
“It doesn’t take much to change your internal practices, train your staff, and talk to your lawyers,” he said. “All of these things take time and resources.”
Regarding workers in California prisons and jails, Cal/OSHA said in a statement that it plans to “proceed with proposing industry-specific regulations for local and state correctional facilities that take into account the unique operational realities of these workplaces,” but did not provide a specific timeline.
Wright expressed disappointment that tens of thousands of prison staff are exempt from the restrictions.
“They’re a big percentage of the workforce,” she said, “but heat is an issue for workers and non-workers alike. Many prisons don’t have central air conditioning, so forcing prisons to take certain measures to ensure temperatures inside prisons are safe for workers would benefit inmates as well.”
Parts of the US experienced heatwaves during the day that could cause heatstroke, with temperatures rising by 2.5C (1.4C) due to global warming caused by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. World Weather Attribution, The calculations were made Thursday by a group of scientists conducting a rapid, non-peer-reviewed study of climate factors.
“It’s like an oven out here, there’s no way I could be here,” said Magarita Salazar Pérez, 82, who lives in Veracruz, Mexico, in her home without air conditioning. Temperatures in the Sonoran Desert reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.9 Celsius) last week, making it the hottest day in Mexico’s history, said Shel Winkley, a meteorologist at Climate Central and co-author of the study.
And it was even worse at night, which is what made the heatwave so deadly, said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who is leading the team investigating its causes. Climate change has caused nighttime temperatures to rise by 2.9 degrees Celsius (1.6 degrees Fahrenheit), making extreme nighttime heat 200 times more likely, Otto said.
Salazar-Perez said there isn’t the cool nighttime air that people are used to, and doctors say lower nighttime temperatures are key to surviving the heatwave.
A man holds his head in the heat at the Cogra nursing home in Veracruz, Mexico, on June 16, 2024.Felix Marquez/AP
At least 125 people have been killed so far, according to the Global Weather Attribution Team.
“This is clearly related to climate change, the level of intensity that we’re seeing, these risks,” said Karina Izquierdo, urban adviser at the Mexico City-based Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center and co-author of the study.
Otto said what’s worrying about this heat wave, which is still heating up North America, is that it’s no longer unusual. Previous research from the group has shown that extremely extreme heat waves Not possible without climate changebut not this heat wave.
“So in that sense it’s not unusual from a meteorological standpoint, but the impacts were really bad,” Otto told The Associated Press in an interview.
“The changes over the last 20 years, which feel like yesterday, have been so dramatic,” Otto said. Her research shows that heat waves are four times more likely now than they were in 2000, when temperatures were nearly 1 degree Celsius (half a degree Celsius) cooler. “It seems so long ago, like another world.”
While other international groups of scientists, as well as global carbon emission reduction targets adopted by countries in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, have noted that warming has been increasing since the pre-industrial era in the mid-1800s, Otto said comparing what is happening now to the year 2000 is even more shocking.
“We’re seeing the baseline shift, and what was once extreme but rare is becoming more and more common,” said Carly Kenkel, dean of marine studies at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the team’s investigation. She called the analysis a “logical conclusion based on the data.”
Jorge Moreno drinks flavored water while working at a construction site in Veracruz, Mexico on June 17, 2024. Felix Marquez/AP
The study looked at the five hottest days and nights across a wide swath of the continent, including Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and Honduras. In most areas, the five days were from June 3 to 7, and the five nights were from June 5 to 9, but in some places, the peak heat began as early as May 26, Otto said.
For example, San Angelo, Texas, recorded a record 111 degrees (43.8 degrees Celsius) on June 4. Between June 2 and June 6, Corpus Christi Airport's nighttime temperatures never dropped below 80 degrees (26.7 degrees Celsius), setting a new nighttime temperature record, with two days where the temperature never dropped below 85 degrees (29.4 degrees Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.
Between June 1st and June 15th, more than 1,200 Highest daytime temperature record The United States saw a flurry of records being broken and tied, with nearly 1,800 overnight high temperature records set, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The team used both current and historical temperature measurements to contrast what’s happening now with past heatwave conditions, then used a scientifically-accepted method of comparing a hypothetical simulation of a world without human-made climate change with current reality to calculate how much global warming contributed to the 2024 heatwave.
Winkley said the immediate meteorological cause is high pressure that was parked over central Mexico, blocking storms and clouds that brought cold air, then moved into the southwestern U.S. and is now bringing hot air to the eastern U.S. Tropical Storm Alberto The storm formed on Wednesday and is heading toward northern Mexico and southern Texas, where it is likely to bring rain and cause flooding.
The heatwave is “exacerbating existing inequalities.” Rich and poor Izquierdo said the inequality is stark in the Americas, and Kenkel agreed: Nighttime heat is accentuated because the ability to stay cool with central air conditioning depends on how affordable you are, Kenkel said.
So, Salazar-Perez was feeling very uncomfortable during this heatwave.
A scorching hot day in Bucharest, Romania, June 2019
lcv / Alamy
In the future, city dwellers could beat the heat with clothes made from new fabrics that keep them cool.
Made from plastic material and silver nanowires, the fabric is designed to keep you cool in urban environments by using the principle of radiative cooling, a natural process in which objects radiate heat back into space.
The material selectively emits a narrow band of infrared light that allows it to escape the Earth’s atmosphere, while at the same time blocking radiation from the sun and from surrounding structures.
Jo Bo-jun, a researcher from the University of Chicago, Illinois, and his team say the material “is more than half [the radiation]” from buildings and the ground,” he says.
Some cooling fabrics and building materials already use this radiative cooling principle, but most of their designs don’t take into account radiation from the sun or infrared radiation from structures like buildings and pavements, and they assume the materials are oriented horizontally against the sky, like roof panels, rather than vertically like clothing worn by a person.
Such designs “work well when they face something cooler, like the sky or a field,” Su says, “but not when they face an urban heat island.”
Xu and his colleagues designed a three-layered fabric: the inner layer is made from common clothing fabrics like wool or cotton, and the middle layer is made up of silver nanowires that reflect most of the radiation.
The top layer is made of a plastic material called polymethylpentene, which does not absorb or reflect most wavelengths and emits a narrow band of infrared light.
In outdoor tests, the fabric remained 8.9°C (16°F) cooler than regular silk fabric and 2.3°C (4.1°F) cooler than a broad-spectrum radiation-emitting material. When tested against the skin, the fabric was 1.8°C (3.2°F) cooler than cotton fabric.
Su said this slight difference in temperature could theoretically increase the amount of time a person can comfortably be exposed to heat by up to a third, but that this has yet to be tested.
“It’s always been difficult to make this material practical as a fiber.” Aswath Raman, the UCLA researcher added that the study is a good example of applying the physical principles of radiative cooling to a practical material. Other materials with similar properties could also be used on vertical surfaces in buildings, he said.
High temperatures occur in Joshua Tree, California on June 5, 2024
Gina Ferrazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Mexico has been hit by a severe heat wave caused by a massive heat dome that has been sweeping across the country for weeks and is now spreading north into the southern United States, causing extreme temperatures across a wide area.
What is a Heat Dome?
Heat dome is not a clearly defined scientific term, but is used by many weather forecasters. American Meteorological Society Define it “A mass of very hot air that occurs when high pressure in the upper atmosphere prevents warm air below from rising.” High pressure causes the air to warm up as it descends, resulting in clear skies. – Clouds form in the opposite situation, when rising air cools and water droplets condense..
These high pressure conditions mean more sunlight, which leads to more warming, drier soil, less evaporation, and fewer clouds and rain. This positive feedback means that the longer the heat dome stays in one place, the hotter and hotter it gets. Heat domes cause heat waves, but heat waves can also happen without them.
What causes a high pressure system to shut down?
The jet stream is a fast-moving band of wind in the upper atmosphere that normally helps move weather systems along the Earth's surface. But sometimes large loops can form in the jet stream, which can result in weather systems getting trapped in the loop. These blocking patterns can lead to extreme cold, extreme rain, or, in the case of a heat dome, extreme heat.
Temperature records were broken in several North American cities during the 2021 Heat Dome.
Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory
What is the lifespan of a heat dome?
It may last from a few days to a few weeks. For example: Extreme Heat Dome The storm lasted for almost a month across Canada and the northwestern United States in 2021. During this time, temperatures in British Columbia reached nearly 50 °C (122 °F), the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada.
Are heat domes becoming more popular because of global warming?
Generally, heat waves Becoming more frequent Although it is caused by climate change, most studies have not focused on heat waves caused by heat domes. There is much debate about how global warming will affect the planet. Block pattern that confines the heat dome in place. Research in 2023 They concluded that northwestern North America will experience an increase in “summer heat dome-like standing waves.”
Is the heat dome getting hotter because of global warming?
Yes, that is true. The world is currently about 1.5°C warmer than it was before the industrial revolution, so if a heat dome were to form today, surface temperatures could be higher than they were before. For example, One study concluded The extreme heat dome temperatures recorded in Canada in 2021 would have been “virtually impossible without anthropogenic climate change.” There is also evidence that the intensity of heat domes is outpacing the warming trend, suggesting that climate change is amplifying the intensity of heat domes.“The intensity of high temperatures associated with thermal dome-like atmospheric circulation is increasing faster than background global warming, both historically and in future projections,” it said. Research in 2023.
In North Carolina, for instance, Ward and colleagues have assisted counties in formulating heat preparedness plans to identify their most vulnerable residents.
He emphasized that government officials should approach the rise in heat and humidity in a similar manner to how they handle hurricanes, tornadoes, and other emergencies.
“Emergency management and public health officials are already well-prepared for various extreme weather events, but they are not as well-prepared for heat-related incidents,” Ward explained.
The events of last summer raised concerns, she noted.
“It was a Category 5 heat event,” Ward explained. “The severity of what we experienced last summer was enough to bring attention to this issue.”
Research indicates that climate change is leading to an increase in the frequency, duration, and intensity of heatwaves worldwide. Last year marked the hottest year on record, and the warming trend continues. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Agency, April saw World temperature records being set for 11 consecutive months.
Forecasts suggest that temperatures will be higher than usual across much of the United States in the next three months, as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s predictions. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ward expressed optimism that cities were taking the threat of heatwaves seriously, although significant challenges lie ahead. Securing funding for preparing for extreme heatwaves, particularly in rural regions, is a major challenge.
Addressing the root social issues that exacerbate during heatwaves, such as homelessness, soaring energy costs, and economic disparities, is an even greater challenge.
However, Ward remains hopeful that the experiences of last summer have motivated some local governments to take action.
“Moving forward, I would like to see a stronger emphasis on preventive measures to reduce these exposures in the first place, so we are not constantly in response mode,” she stated.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen emphasized the importance of utilizing tools and guidelines to help individuals identify places to stay cool when air conditioning is not available, recognize symptoms of heat illness, and properly manage medications. Cohen highlighted the significance of understanding how drugs interact with heat during a press conference on Monday.
“While heat can impact our health, it is crucial to remember that heat-related illness and death are preventable,” Cohen stated.
Heat-related deaths outnumber those caused by other extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes in the United States each year. The record-breaking heat experienced last summer highlighted the threat of scorching temperatures, particularly in the South and Southwest regions of the country.
NOAA officials expressed optimism that the new resources will assist communities in preparing for the upcoming summer season. The agency anticipates above-average temperatures in May and June across the United States, indicating another hot summer ahead.
“It is never too early to start preparing for heat-related challenges,” emphasized NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad during a briefing.
NOAA’s HeatRisk tool categorizes heat risks on a scale from 0 (green) to 4 (magenta), with 4 indicating extreme and/or prolonged heat impacts. The tool considers factors such as maximum and minimum temperatures as well as the combined effects of heat during both day and night. It is tailored to provide location-specific heat outlooks as environmental conditions vary from one place to another.
The forecast also includes historical data to provide context on the predicted temperatures relative to past records during the same time of year.
NOAA National Weather Service Director Ken Graham highlighted that the HeatRisk tool can assist individuals in making informed decisions about outdoor activities based on the heat risk level. The tool aims to complement heat watches and warnings issued by government agencies by offering additional context for users.
The initial prototype of the HeatRisk tool was developed for California by the National Weather Service in 2013 and expanded to include Western states in 2017. It is currently available as a trial tool across the continental United States.
Members of the public are encouraged to submit feedback on the tool by September 30th to the National Weather Service.
An analysis of all heatwaves around the world between 1979 and 2020 found that they now last an average of 12 days, compared to eight days at the start of the study.
As the Earth continues to heat, they will last even longer, says Zhang Wei at Utah State University. “Based on trends, by around 2060 it could double to 16 days,” he says.
Zhang’s team found that heat waves not only last much longer, but also become more frequent and progress more slowly. This means that certain locations have to endure heat wave conditions more frequently and for longer.
Although heat waves are typically thought of as phenomena that affect one region, the areas affected by heat waves change over time as the weather systems responsible for the hot conditions move.
According to the research team, the speed of heat waves has slowed from around 340 kilometers per day in the 1980s to around 280 kilometers per day today. Moreover, the rate of deceleration is accelerating.
Because heat waves last longer, they reach farther, albeit at lower average speeds, increasing the total distance from about 2,500 kilometers to about 3,000 kilometers. This means that a wider area is affected.
The study did not consider the causes of this trend. However, with global warming, heat waves will become more frequent, slower moving, and last longer, meaning they will be more devastating to society and nature than ever before, unless action is taken to prevent further warming. The research team warns that this could have a negative impact.
Most previous studies on heat waves focused on specific locations or regions. Zhang’s team is one of the few that can observe how heat waves move over time.
To do this, the team divided the world into grids. A heat wave is defined as one or more grid rectangles that significantly exceed the average temperature from 1981 to 2010, specifically, temperatures exceeding 95 percent of the temperatures for that period for three or more days. it was done.
The research team found that heat waves tend to move in certain directions depending on prevailing conditions. For example, heat waves in Australia tend to move more south-east, while in Africa they tend to move west.
“I think it’s really interesting to be able to see all the properties of heat waves that you can’t capture if you consider them statically,” he says. andrea beenish He was involved in one of the few other studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. Seeing heat waves as moving systems.
But when thinking about what we need to do to adapt to a hotter world, regional assessments can be more helpful than global ones, Beinisch says.
She also points out that, for example, heatwave persistence numbers depend largely on how the team defines a heatwave. Even with different definitions, the overall trend remains the same, but the numbers can change significantly. “This needs to be taken into account when looking at the exact numbers,” she says.
Other studies also show that hurricanes move more slowly, he says. david keelings at the University of Florida.
“In short, this means that these incredibly dangerous events last longer in one place and the impact is felt more strongly. In general, the longer a population is exposed to heatwave conditions, the more likely they are to be hospitalized. higher rates and higher mortality rates,” he says.
Global sea surface temperatures have been breaking records every day for the past 12 months, causing concern among marine scientists.
Senior research scientist Brian McNoldy from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School expressed worry about the unprecedented margins by which the records are being broken. He mentioned that the current average sea surface temperatures are approximately 1.25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were from 1982 to 2011, as per the University of Maine’s climate reanalyzer, which could have significant impacts on the climate and ecosystem.
While human-induced climate change is considered a contributing factor, there are likely other natural climate processes at play as well. The rise in sea surface temperatures has puzzled scientists as they are unsure of the exact reasons behind it.
The warming ocean temperatures could lead to coral bleaching, stronger hurricanes, warmer coastal temperatures, and more extreme precipitation. Researchers have observed these effects in 2023, and they fear that if the trend continues, it could have severe consequences.
Some potential factors influencing the rise in sea surface temperatures include weakening trade winds in the North Atlantic and changes in shipping regulations limiting sulfur pollution, amongst others. Researchers are trying to understand the complex interplay of these factors leading to such unprecedented temperature increases.
The warmer ocean temperatures could fuel more powerful storms and hurricanes, putting coastal areas at risk. The Atlantic Ocean and the Horn of Africa, known for producing hurricanes hitting the East Coast of the United States, are experiencing significant anomalies in sea surface temperatures.
Overall, the rising sea surface temperatures pose a serious threat to marine ecosystems and climate stability. Scientists are working to unravel the mystery behind this phenomenon to better predict and mitigate its impacts.
In the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jose Damian, a street vendor for the past five years, braves temperatures of up to 105 degrees while selling Mexican snacks and shaved ice under the scorching midday sun. He recently experienced heat-related health issues when he felt dizzy and sweaty on his way to Sarah Coughlin Elementary School, prompting him to seek medical attention after losing all the salt in his body.
Residents in Pacoima have long endured extreme heat, with some taking multiple showers a day and struggling to stay cool due to the lack of trees and expensive air conditioning. The neighborhood holds the unfortunate title of being the hottest in Los Angeles and is disproportionately affected by heat-related illnesses, particularly in low-income communities of color like Pacoima.
A recent study shows that areas with a large Latino population, such as Pacoima, are significantly warmer than others in Los Angeles County. This disparity in temperature is exacerbated by the lack of tree canopies and green spaces in the neighborhood, further contributing to the heat island effect.
To combat the extreme heat, community organizations and local officials have joined forces to implement a cooling plan for Pacoima. Initiatives like the “Cool Pavement” project, in partnership with roofing manufacturer GAF, aim to reduce heat absorption in the neighborhood by repaving city blocks with solar reflective coating. This multi-year project not only helps cool the area but also adds vibrant murals and colored pavers to brighten up the community.
A map showing the expected surface temperature anomalies in 2024 if a strong El Niño event occurs.Blue dots indicate areas where record heat is expected
Ning Jiang et al., Scientific Reports
Climate models predict this year will be the hottest 12 months on record as El Niño conditions persist in the Caribbean, Bay of Bengal, South China Sea, Alaska and parts of the Amazon.
“These are places where the risk of extreme events is increased, and these extreme events are really harmful,” team members say. michael mcfaden NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington.
“They negatively impact human health and increase the risk of wildfires. And in the ocean, they increase the risk of marine heatwaves, damaging marine ecosystems, fisheries and corals,” he said. Masu.
Earth’s surface temperatures are currently at record highs in many parts of the world. The main reason is global warming caused by carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. However, in addition to this, the strong El Niño phenomenon that started in mid-2023 is causing temperatures to rise further.
When an El Niño event occurs, warm water spreads across the surface of the Pacific Ocean toward South America. This vast area of warm water transfers large amounts of ocean heat to the atmosphere, causing an increase in surface temperature.
The reverse phase, known as La Niña, reverses this process. Cold water spreads over the surface of the Pacific Ocean away from South America, absorbing heat from the atmosphere and lowering the surface temperature.
This means that the Earth’s average surface temperature typically reaches record levels during El Niño periods and then drops during La Niña periods.
McFadden and his colleagues used a computer model that took into account aerosol pollution and volcanic eruptions in addition to El Niño to try to predict where in the world record heat would occur. Their regional forecast is the average surface temperature for the period from July 2023 to June 2024.
“Even if it’s not exactly timed to a specific season, there’s real value in having this kind of warning,” McFayden says. “It gives us a grace period to prepare how best to protect life, property, marine resources and economic development.”
The research team considered two scenarios: a strong El Niño and a milder El Niño. It’s now clear that a strong El Niño is occurring, and in fact, it’s likely to be in the top five strongest El Niños since 1950, McFadden said.
In this strong El Niño scenario, the research team predicts that the global average surface temperature from July 2023 to June 2024 would be 1.1°C to 1.2°C warmer than the 1951-1980 average. Masu.
this is Equivalent to a temperature above 1.4-1.5 °C average from 1850 to 1900, new scientist This is considered a pre-industrial benchmark. This suggests that the model is underestimating the temperature since it is already above this level. From January 2023 to January 2024, the Earth’s average surface temperature was more than 1.5 °C above the 1850-1900 average, and in January 2024 it was 1.7 °C above this level.
Temperature records have already been broken during El Niño, especially in the tropics, he said. maximiliano herrera, an independent climatologist who tracks extreme temperatures. “This is amazing,” he says. “We are experiencing record heat and it is inevitable.”
Melting ice in Greenland could worsen extreme weather across Europe
REDA & CO srl/Alamy
Europe's 10 hottest and driest summers in the past 40 years have all come after a particularly large amount of fresh water was released from the Greenland ice sheet, meaning southern Europe will experience an especially hot summer this year. Maybe you are doing it.
They say this link occurs because the excess meltwater triggers a series of amplifying feedbacks that affect the strength and position of the atmospheric jet stream over Europe. Marilena Ortmans At the UK National Marine Centre.
“2018 and 2022 were the most recent examples,” she says. 2022 saw extreme heat and numerous bushfires across Europe, with high temperatures reaching 40°C (104°F) in parts of the UK for the first time.
These feedback effects, on top of the underlying warming trend from fossil fuel emissions, mean Europe will become even hotter and drier in coming decades as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet accelerates. Then Mr. Ortmans says:
“This is on top of the warming that is already happening due to increases in greenhouse gases,” she says.
Hotter heat waves and drier droughts are expected as the planet warms, but in some regions, such as Europe, recent heat waves and droughts have been even more extreme than climate modeling projects. Several studies have linked these extreme events to changes in the strength and position of the Arctic jet stream. The Arctic jet stream is a band of upper-level winds whose location and strength have a significant impact on weather.
But it's not clear what causes these changes, Ortmans says. Now, she and her colleagues are analyzing weather observations from the past 40 years, and the results show that extreme weather is ultimately the result of a period of increased ice melt in Greenland. It is said that there is.
“Observational statistical associations are very powerful,” she says.
The excess meltwater leads to a shallow layer of freshwater that extends south of the North Atlantic Ocean. This layer does not easily mix with the warm, salty ocean water below, causing the ocean surface to be colder than normal in winter.
This makes the gradient between this colder water and warmer water further south even more extreme, strengthening the weather front aloft. As a result, wind patterns strengthen, pushing warm water flowing northward, the North Atlantic Current, further north than usual. This further amplifies the temperature gradient.
“The front that forms between an area of cold fresh water and an area of warm ocean water is the main source of energy for storms,” she says.
Now, Oltmans' team suggests that these winter changes have lasting effects into the following summer. “Two years after the freshwater anomaly occurred, we are still seeing significant signs,” she says.
The researchers found that stronger temperature gradients lead to stronger jet streams across Europe, making the weather in southern Europe even hotter and drier. Then, as the unusually cold water recedes, the jet stream moves north, bringing hot, dry weather to northern Europe.
“We have discussed the individual links in this feedback chain before,” Ortmans says. “What we did in this study is bring these links together.”
Computer models miss this chain of feedback because they don't include factors such as large fluctuations in meltwater from year to year, she says.
“The association between Atlantic freshwater anomalies and subsequent European summer weather proposed in this study is interesting and relevant to current scientific research on long-term predictions of summer weather, especially “If that relationship holds true for future summers,” he says. adam scaife He works on long-term forecasts at the UK Met Office.
“I think this study is somewhat convincing,” he says. Fei Luo At the Singapore Climate Research Center. But when it comes to predicting summer weather, looking at the previous year's snowmelt isn't as helpful as looking at winter weather conditions, Luo said.
But Oltmans is confident enough to predict that Europe will experience more heatwaves and droughts in the coming years as Greenland's ice melts further in the summer of 2023. “I think southern Europe will experience strong heat anomalies this summer,” she says.
These are likely to become even more powerful in 2025, after which they will begin to impact Northern Europe. “We expect Northern Europe to experience another strong heatwave and drought, not this year, but in the next few years.”
A quoll searches for termites in a fallen log.Poor night vision is also part of the reason they have to forage for food in the heat of the day.
kristin cooper
As Australia's temperatures continue to get hotter, the specialized fur that possums evolved to save energy is now putting them at risk of overheating.
possum (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is an unusual marsupial in that it is active during the day, feeding on termites hidden under tree logs and topsoil. Because these insects are low-calorie foods, possums, which typically weigh about 500 grams, have evolved fur that absorbs heat from the sun, saving calories spent on generating body heat.
As temperatures rise, that evolutionary trait can backfire, causing possums to overheat within minutes of feeding in direct sunlight. kristin cooper at Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Quolls once roamed southern Australia, but over the past two centuries they have fallen prey to cats and foxes introduced by European settlers. Currently, these endangered animals are concentrated in just two small nature reserves in Western Australia.
To increase their numbers, conservation groups are gradually moving the marsupials to areas protected from their native predators. But global warming is making some of these regions even hotter and drier.
“Environmental change is occurring at an unprecedented rate due to anthropogenic global warming, which means that predicting future species distribution and population patterns, protecting and managing them requires environmental conditions “This means it is important to understand the ecological consequences of changes in philip withers researchers from the University of Western Australia write in a paper.
To learn more, the pair used a thermal imaging camera to film 50 wild animals eating termites at different times of the day from 2020 to 2021.
At each site, portable weather stations were used to record factors such as temperature, wind speed, and humidity. They then incorporated this data into a computer program to model how environmental conditions affected the quolls' internal temperatures.
The researchers found that on days of high heat stress, such as in dry environments with temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, possums overheat within 10 minutes of exposure to direct sunlight. After that, they need to stop eating and hide from the sun until their body temperature drops.
Shade is helpful, but shade is often scarce, and seeking shade limits the termite-hunting territory of possums, Cooper says. The model also suggests that the combination of high outdoor temperatures and radiant heat from the ground can cause possums to overheat even in the shade.
Feeding at night is not an option for possums, as they have poor night vision and lack the strength to invade termite mounds at night.
To overcome these problems, Cooper recommends conservation groups move quolls to cooler areas of their territory and provide plenty of shade.
Innovative “cooling glass” developed by researchers at the University of Maryland provides a groundbreaking, non-electrical solution for reducing indoor heat and carbon emissions, and significantly advances sustainable building technology. It shows great progress.
Applying new coatings to exterior surfaces can reduce air conditioning usage and help fight climate change.
Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed an innovative “cooling glass” designed to reduce indoor temperatures without using electricity. This revolutionary material works by harnessing the cold air of outer space.
New technology, microporous glass coating, described in paper published in the journal sciencecan lower the temperature of the material beneath it by 3.5 degrees. Celsius According to a research team led by distinguished professor Liangbing Hu of the university’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, it has the potential to reduce the annual carbon dioxide emissions of mid-rise apartments by 10%.
Cooling mechanism with two functions
This coating works in two ways. For one, it reflects up to 99% of solar radiation, preventing buildings from absorbing heat. Even more interestingly, this universe emits heat in the form of long-wave infrared radiation into the icy universe, whose temperature is typically -270 degrees Celsius, or just a few degrees warmer. absolute temperature.
In a phenomenon known as “radiative cooling,” spaces effectively act as heat sinks for buildings. They use new cooling glass designs and so-called atmospheric transparency windows (the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that passes through the atmosphere without increasing its temperature) to dump large amounts of heat into the infinitely colder sky beyond. Masu. (Although the emissions are much stronger than those from the new glass developed at UMD, the same phenomenon causes the Earth to cool itself, especially on clear nights.)
State-of-the-art durable materials
“This is an innovative technology that simplifies the way we keep buildings cool and energy efficient,” said research assistant Xinpeng Zhao, lead author of the study. “This could help us change the way we live and take better care of our homes and the planet.”
Unlike previous attempts at cooling coatings, the new glass developed by UMD is environmentally stable, withstanding exposure to water, UV light, dirt, and even flame, and withstands temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius. can withstand. Because glass can be applied to a variety of surfaces such as tile, brick, and metal, the technology is highly scalable and can be adopted for a wide range of applications.
The research team could use finely ground glass particles as a binder, bypassing polymers and increasing long-term durability outdoors, Zhao said. We then selected a particle size that maximizes the release of infrared heat while reflecting sunlight.
Climate change solutions and global impacts
The development of cooling glass is in line with global efforts to reduce energy consumption and combat climate change, Hu said, adding that this year’s Independence Day could have been the world’s hottest day in 125,000 years. He pointed out recent reports that it was a day of sex.
“This ‘cooling glass’ is not just a new material, it’s an important part of the solution to climate change,” he said. “By reducing the use of air conditioners, we have taken a big step towards reducing energy usage and reducing our carbon footprint. This is because new technology is helping us build a cooler, greener world. It shows how it can help.”
In addition to Hu and Zhao, Jelena Srebric and Zongfu Yu, professors of mechanical engineering in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, are co-authors of the study, each contributing expertise in CO2 reduction and structural design. There is. .
The team is now focused on further testing and practical application of the cooled glass. They are optimistic about its commercialization prospects and have formed a startup company, CeraCool, to scale and commercialize it.
Reference: “Solution-processed radiatively cooled glass” Xinpeng Zhao, Tangyuan Li, Hua Xie, He Liu, Lingzhe Wang, Yurui Qu, Stephanie C. Li, Shufeng Liu, Alexandra H. Brozena, Zongfu Yu, Jelena Srebric, Liangbing Written by Hu, November 9, 2023, science. DOI: 10.1126/science.adi2224
Bearded seals have complex nasal bones that help retain internal heat.
Ole Jorgen Rioden/naturepl.com
Arctic seals have evolved clever adaptations to help them stay warm in frigid climates. The nose has a complex maze of bones.
Many birds and mammals, including humans, have a pair of thin, porous nasal bones called turbinates or nasal turbinates, which are covered with a layer of tissue.
“They have a scroll shape or a tree-like branching shape,” he says. Matthew Mason at Cambridge University.
When we breathe in, air first flows through the maxillary turbinates, allowing the surrounding tissues to warm and humidify the air before it reaches the lungs. When we exhale, the air follows the same route, trapping heat and moisture so it doesn’t get lost.
The more complex the shape, the larger the surface area and the more efficient it is at doing its job.
Animals that live in cold, dry environments, such as arctic reindeer, have been found to have more complex gnathonasal turbinates than animals that live in warmer climates.
Now, Mason and his colleagues have discovered that arctic seals have the most complex gnathonasal turbinates ever reported.
Researchers took a CT scan of a bearded seal (Elignathus barbatus), commonly found in the Arctic, and the Mediterranean monk seal (monax monax). Both species had complex turbinates, but the researchers found that the bearded seal’s nasal bones were much denser and more complex than anything seen before.
Mason and his colleagues used computer models to measure how much energy is lost as heat in physical processes at -30°C and 10°C (-22°F and 50°F). We compared how well the seals retain heat and moisture.).
With each breath at -30°C, Mediterranean monk seals lost 1.45 times more heat and 3.5 times more water than bearded seals. Similarly, at 10°C, monk seals lost about 1.5 times more water and heat than arctic seals.
“More complex structures evolved to make life in the Arctic possible,” he says. Sign Kelstrup At the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
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