A week of unprecedented heat records across the planet

All-time heat records have been set all over the world during the past week, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/all-time-heat-records-have-been-set-all-over-the-world-during-the-past-week-20180705-p4zply.htmlBy Jason Samenow5 July 2018 —

Washington: From the normally mild summers 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. 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 south-east Canada since late last week. It’s not only been hot but also exceptionally humid. Some of the notable all-time records include: Denver tied its all-time high-temperature record of 40.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday; Burlington, Vermont, set its all-time warmest minimum temperature ever recorded of 26.6 degrees on Monday; Montreal recorded its highest temperature in recorded history, dating back 147 years, of 36.6 degrees on Monday. The city also posted its most extreme midnight combination of heat and humidity.

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 record highs in Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

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.

In Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, the capital city soared to 40.5 degrees, its all-time record, while Yerevan, Armenia, temperatures soared to 42 degrees, a record high for July and tying its record for any month.

Several locations in southern Russia topped or matched their warmest June temperatures on record on Thursday.

Middle East

Qurayat, Oman, posted the world’s hottest minimum temperature ever recorded on June 28: 42.6 degrees.

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.

In late May 2017, the western town of Turbat in Pakistan hit 53.5 degrees, tying the all-time highest temperature in the country and the world-record temperature for May.

It followed the hottest temperature ever observed on Earth during the month of April — 50.2 degrees also in Pakistan.

Washington Post

July 6, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change

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