Over 54 degrees Celsius in some regions of the US 3:48
(CNN Spanish) -
High temperatures do not dissipate in the United States.
In late June, a heat wave hit millions of people in both the northwestern part of the country and southwestern Canada.
This situation is so alarming that it has had even deadly consequences.
In addition, temperatures in the northwestern US have been described as "unprecedented" by experts.
And, instead of easing, the high temperatures continue in the United States.
Since Friday, authorities have warned of another heat wave for the west of the country, where concern is growing due to historical drought conditions and increased fire danger in much of the Northwest.
Heat in Death Valley
To size the picture, we have a very recent example: Death Valley, in California.
It is a place that is hot;
however, on Friday, July 9, it reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius).
This is the fifth time in history that a place has reached this temperature.
What does this mean?
That there have only been five days with this temperature in a universe of data of 40,000 recorded days.
advertising
According to forecasts, temperatures of 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.6 degrees Celsius) or more in Death Valley were expected to remain for Tuesday, July 13.
If this forecast was met, it would be 8 days in a row with temperatures above 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be the second longest streak in recorded history (it would tie an eight-day streak in 2013).
According to the US National Weather Service, on Tuesday, July 12, the maximum temperature recorded in Death Valley was 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52.2 degrees Celsius);
however, the heat eased a bit on Wednesday, July 13, when the high at this site was 119 degrees Fahrenheit (48.3 degrees Celsius).
Despite this, it is clear that the heat is breaking records in many places.
There are the figures as proof of that.
But, beyond the data, why are these temperatures increasingly common?
These cities have the worst 'heat islands', and temperatures can rise between 5.5 and 11 degrees in a matter of blocks
Climate change and heat waves
The unprecedented heat wave that hit the northwestern United States and western Canada on the Pacific Rim in late June "would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-caused climate change," according to an analysis by World Weather Attribution, a collaborative platform between scientists from the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, India, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
All extreme heat episodes bear the traces of climate change, the authors wrote, but the unprecedented heat of late June, which set all-time records in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, was made possible primarily by warming caused by the fossil fuel emissions, the analysis concluded.
Historic Northwest Heat Wave Would Have Been "Nearly Impossible" Without Human-Made Climate Crisis, Study Finds
Although the temperatures were "far outside the range of temperatures observed in the past," leaving little to compare, the scientists determined that the late June heat wave was 150 times more likely due to climate change.
A decade ago, researchers would have been hesitant to pinpoint climate change as the cause of a particular event.
Now, with the help of powerful computer models, researchers can use decades of observed temperatures to quickly determine what role global warming played.
3 reasons for climate change
According to Martha Llanos, a meteorologist with a degree in Atmospheric Sciences from the Universidad Veracruzana, what has happened in recent months with heat waves are blocking patterns.
What does this refer to?
"In the atmosphere there are hot and cold areas, which are accommodating or moving, but sometimes there are moments where they remain static (they are blocked) and generate episodes of very hot or very cold," Llanos explained in an interview with CNN.
The meteorologist emphasized this point because, in addition to changes in the climate that have to do with heat, others that are related to low temperatures are also being seen.
"Every time the annual temperature is warmer and it is a reality that the climate is changing, but not only in favor of more heat, there are also regions where it is observed colder," he added.
Climate change is producing deadly heat waves.
Why don't we see it as a crisis?
Llanos pointed out that meteorology experts agree on several reasons that explain the alterations in the climate:
The use of fossil fuels, which causes high levels of pollution.
Overexploitation of natural resources.
"This leads us to break the planetary limits, we consume faster than the Earth can generate and then recover," said the meteorologist.
And, "in general, all this is attributable to the system in which we live where development is predominant towards the accumulation of wealth through the exploitation of natural resources," he added.
Pay attention to oscillations
The World Weather Attribution analysis makes it clear that human-caused climate change bears part of the responsibility for the variations in temperatures that we are currently experiencing.
The issue of climate change is something that will continue to be studied in the following years.
And, as this is investigated, at the same time the meteorological phenomena that have been developing for a long time and that continue to cause changes in the climate must be observed, according to Héctor Magaña Fernández, a meteorologist at the University of Guadalajara.
Magaña Fernández said in an interview with CNN that there is a need to emphasize oscillations, which in a few words could be defined as changes in the climate caused by a meteorological phenomenon, he added.
'The boy and the girl'
To explain the oscillations, the "best known phenomenon is ENSO," added the meteorologist.
The acronym ENSO refers to the phenomenon 'El Niño-Southern Oscillation', which consists of three phases: 'El Niño', 'La Niña' and a neutral phase, according to information from the Argentine government.
"Either of the two (El Niño or La Niña), when they occur in the Pacific, causes all the machinery to be changed at the planetary level. When El Niño or La Niña is present, there are parts where it rains more when it was not raining; and There are parts of it where it rains less when it rained a lot. And then it makes a change in the pattern of the whole gear of the atmosphere, "explained Magaña Fernández.
It should be remembered that El Niño and La Niña (which are the two extremes of the ENSO phenomenon) occur in the tropical Pacific Ocean, indicates the Argentine government.
While the first makes the waters warm and causes rain, the second works in the opposite way.
And these changes between one and the other, which are examples of oscillations, generate alterations in the climate in various parts of the world, as the expert pointed out.
With information from Aya Elamroussi, Angela Fritz, Carma Hassan, Brisa Colon, Allison Chinchar, Hannah Gard, Monica Garrett, Rachel Ramirez
Heat Climate Change Meteorology Heat Wave