Our planet is on fire. Here are the all-time heat records set worldwide this week

People are actually dying.

From the normally mild summer climes of Ireland, Scotland and Canada to the scorching Middle East, numerous locations in the Northern Hemisphere have witnessed their hottest weather ever recorded over the past week.

Large areas of heat pressure or heat domes scattered around the hemisphere led to the sweltering temperatures.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports the heat is to blame for at least 33 deaths in southern Quebec, mostly in and near Montreal, which endured record high temperatures.

In Northern Siberia, along the coast of the Arctic Ocean – where weather observations are scarce – model analyses showed temperatures soaring 40 degrees Fahrenheit (22 Celsius) above normal on July 5, to over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).

"It is absolutely incredible and really one of the most intense heat events I've ever seen for so far north," wrote meteorologist Nick Humphrey, who offers more detail on this extraordinary high-latitude hot spell on his blog.

No single record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming. But collectively, these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see increase in a warming world.

Let's take a tour around the world of the recent hot-weather milestones.

North America

A massive and intense heat dome has consumed the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southeast Canada since late last week. It's not only been hot but also exceptionally humid. Here are some of the notable all-time records set:

Europe

Excessive heat torched the British Isles late last week. The stifling heat caused roads and roofs to buckle, the Weather Channel reported, and resulted in multiple all-time record highs:

  • Scotland provisionally set its hottest temperature on record. The U.K. Met Office reported Motherwell, about 12 miles southeast of Glasgow, hit 91.8 degrees Fahrenheit (33.2 Celsius) on June 28, passing the previous record of (32.9 Celsius) set in August 2003 at Greycrook. Additionally, Glasgow had its hottest day on record, hitting 89.4 degrees Fahrenheit (31.9 Celsius).
  • In Ireland, on June 28, Shannon hit 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius), its record.
  • In Northern Ireland,
    • Belfast hit 85.1 degrees Fahrenheit (29.5 Celsius) on June 28, its record.
    • Castlederg hit 86.2 degrees Fahrenheit (30.1 Celsius) on June 29, its record

Eurasia

A large dome of high pressure, or heat dome, has persistently sat on top of Eurasia over the past week, resulting in some extraordinarily hot weather:

Middle East

As we reported, Quriyat, Oman, posted the world's hottest low temperature ever recorded on June 28: 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.6 Celsius).

These various records add to a growing list of heat milestones set over the past 15 months that are part and parcel of a planet that is trending hotter as greenhouse gas concentrations increase because of human activity:

For the rest of this article please go to source link below.

REGISTER NOW

By Jason Samenow / Weather editor — Washington, D.C.

Jason is The Washington Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist. He earned a master's degree in atmospheric science and spent 10 years as a climate change science analyst for the U.S. government. He holds the Digital Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association.

Follow @capitalweather

Email the author

(Source: sciencealert.com; July 6, 2018; https://tinyurl.com/yakvjw2y)
Back to INF

Loading please wait...