Record-shattering heat wave bakes western US, raising drought and fire concerns
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021...ought-fire
INTRO: This week the temperatures hit 106F (41C) in Billings, in southern Montana. In Arizona, animals were scorching their paws on blistering asphalt. In Texas, authorities asked residents to limit cooking and cleaning to preserve a creaking power grid.
These were just some of the scenes emerging from one of the most excruciating heatwaves to ever hit the western United States this early in the year. From California to Montana, a staggering 40 million people are experiencing temperatures of 100F (38C) or hotter this week, and 50 million were under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories.
For many it is merely a hint of things to come as the planet warms amid the global heating crisis and such extreme events become more and more common. Many cities across the American west have opened cooling stations and hydration stations to keep people safe from the dangerous temperatures – and the hottest months of the year are still expected to come.
The heat also added to smoggy air conditions, the worst in years in some locations. On Tuesday, areas around Phoenix saw the worst air quality since data started being recorded in 1980, tweeted Ryan Stauffer, an air quality expert at Nasa. This mega-heatwave is being pumped up by climate breakdown, researchers say... (MORE)
NASA Reports Earth Has Been Trapping "Unprecedented" Amount of Heat in Energy Imbalance
https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles...alance.htm
EXCERPTS: According to a recent study, the Earth is storing nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, an "unprecedented" rise in the midst of the climate crisis. [...] The discrepancy between how much of the Sun's "radiative energy" is absorbed by Earth's atmosphere and surface against how much "thermal infrared radiation" bounces back into space is referred to as "energy imbalance."
In a statement announcing the findings, Nasa noted, "A positive energy imbalance implies the Earth system is accumulating energy, causing the globe to heat up."
By comparing data from satellite sensors - which measure how much energy enters and departs Earth's system - with data from ocean floats, scientists concluded that there was an energy imbalance. This global network of data-gathering floats allows researchers to get an "accurate assessment of the rate at which the world's seas are warming."
Because about 90% of surplus energy from an imbalance ends up in the ocean, the data from satellite sensors should correspond to changes in ocean temperature.
"The two very independent ways of looking at changes in Earth's energy imbalance are in really, really good agreement, and they're both showing this huge trend, which gives us a lot of confidence that what we're seeing is a real phenomenon and not just an instrumental artifact," said Nasa researcher Norman Loeb. "In some ways, the tendencies we discovered were pretty alarming." (MORE - details)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021...ought-fire
INTRO: This week the temperatures hit 106F (41C) in Billings, in southern Montana. In Arizona, animals were scorching their paws on blistering asphalt. In Texas, authorities asked residents to limit cooking and cleaning to preserve a creaking power grid.
These were just some of the scenes emerging from one of the most excruciating heatwaves to ever hit the western United States this early in the year. From California to Montana, a staggering 40 million people are experiencing temperatures of 100F (38C) or hotter this week, and 50 million were under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories.
For many it is merely a hint of things to come as the planet warms amid the global heating crisis and such extreme events become more and more common. Many cities across the American west have opened cooling stations and hydration stations to keep people safe from the dangerous temperatures – and the hottest months of the year are still expected to come.
The heat also added to smoggy air conditions, the worst in years in some locations. On Tuesday, areas around Phoenix saw the worst air quality since data started being recorded in 1980, tweeted Ryan Stauffer, an air quality expert at Nasa. This mega-heatwave is being pumped up by climate breakdown, researchers say... (MORE)
NASA Reports Earth Has Been Trapping "Unprecedented" Amount of Heat in Energy Imbalance
https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles...alance.htm
EXCERPTS: According to a recent study, the Earth is storing nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, an "unprecedented" rise in the midst of the climate crisis. [...] The discrepancy between how much of the Sun's "radiative energy" is absorbed by Earth's atmosphere and surface against how much "thermal infrared radiation" bounces back into space is referred to as "energy imbalance."
In a statement announcing the findings, Nasa noted, "A positive energy imbalance implies the Earth system is accumulating energy, causing the globe to heat up."
By comparing data from satellite sensors - which measure how much energy enters and departs Earth's system - with data from ocean floats, scientists concluded that there was an energy imbalance. This global network of data-gathering floats allows researchers to get an "accurate assessment of the rate at which the world's seas are warming."
Because about 90% of surplus energy from an imbalance ends up in the ocean, the data from satellite sensors should correspond to changes in ocean temperature.
"The two very independent ways of looking at changes in Earth's energy imbalance are in really, really good agreement, and they're both showing this huge trend, which gives us a lot of confidence that what we're seeing is a real phenomenon and not just an instrumental artifact," said Nasa researcher Norman Loeb. "In some ways, the tendencies we discovered were pretty alarming." (MORE - details)