Today is Saturday, September 16, 2023.
A great article at Bloomberg, with a glossary about extreme heat.
Specially after you read our post from last September 2, about a McKinsey & Co article, “What is COP? What are greenhouse gases? What is net zero?”.
Let’s see what the authors tell us after everything they have been going through in their summer in the Northern hemisphere, particularly in Greece, Canada, China, India and United States. And before a new summer arrives in the Southern hemisphere of the World, n Brazil, South Africa, Australia and Argentina, for example.
“The hottest summer ever recorded and a spate of climate-change-fueled disasters”
Here some of the definitions.
Heat dome.
A kind of atmospheric mountain of hot air that stays over a region for days or even weeks.
Excessive heat warning.
The most urgent heat-related warning, indicating extreme high temperature and low humidity. People are advised to avoid being outdoors during the hottest times of day, drink plenty of water, and take frequent breaks if outside.
Wet-bulb temperature.
It is critical level, combining air humidity and temperature, above which no amount of sweating can cool the body, putting people in grave, if not mortal, danger. There are calculators, Google for them. As you know, living beings rely on sweating evaporation to maintain a stable internal temperature.
El Niño.
A natural climate phenomenon characterised by warmer-than-normal waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. El Niño can cause shifts in temperature and rainfall around the world.
Megadrought.
A period of very low soil moisture that lasts a long time. And impacts rivers, lakes and groundwater.
Air quality index
Based on how much “particulate matter” is in the air, indicates how good - or not - breathing conditions by humans are.
Firestorm.
When exceptionally intense wildfires superheat the air, causing it to rise, winds to swirl spreading embers flying away, reinforcing fiery conditions.
Six sigma event.
A measurement of statistical deviation from what is normal. Two sigma indicates odd, three sigma significantly out-of-normal. More than five, extremely rare.
Attribution science.
Is a tool that lets scientists quantify just how much climate change and CO2 atmospheric concentration correlates with amplifying heat wave.
Cooling center.
Several locations in United States had to announce places with air conditioning for people to go and refresh: libraries, schools, community centres and malls.
All this impacts not only people, but also the power grid and infrastructure.
Click at the image below for the original Bloomberg article, including examples for each of these and other terms. It may required sign up for the full text.
