Dangerous heat waves in the world

In the past, studies have shown that heat waves around the world are getting worse, but broader new research focuses not just on temperature and area, but on the duration of heat waves and how they They travel across continents, said climatologists and study co-authors Wei Zhang of Utah State University and Gabriel Lau of Princeton University.

From 1979 to 1983, global heat waves lasted eight days on average, but from 2016 to 2020, the figure increased to 12 days, the study revealed. Eurasia has been the most affected area, with longer-lasting heat waves.

Heat waves slowed mainly in Africa, while North America and Australia showed the largest increases in their global magnitude, which measures temperature and area, according to the study.

“This paper is a clear warning that climate change is making heat waves even more dangerous in a number of ways,” said Michael Wehner, a climatologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who was not involved in the research.

The researchers ran computer simulations that show this change is due to heat-trapping emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas. The study found the footprint of climate change by simulating a world without greenhouse gas emissions, and concluded that it would not produce the worsening heat waves seen over the past 45 years.

The study also analyzes changes in weather patterns that propagate heat waves.

Atmospheric waves that move weather systems, such as the jet stream, weaken, so they don’t move heat waves as quickly, from west to east on most, but not all, continents, Zhang said.

Several outside scientists praised the panoramic way Zhang and his colleagues examined heat waves, showing how they interact with weather patterns and global movement, and especially how they slow down.