5 things you might not know about global warming

Over the weekend, a heatwave struck the southwest, killing four people. It was reported by CNN that “at least three large wildfires are burning in the region, covering an area larger than Paris.” Wildfires in New Mexico, Arizona and California are burning trees, damaging homes, and even taking lives.

In cities, like Las Vegas and Phoenix, temperatures reached one-hundred-fifteen degrees, and it was so hot in the region that planes had to be redirected to Texas (when Texas is ‘cooler,’ we have a serious problem). CNN also shared with its readers that Royal Navy ships are breaking down and losing power because of this intense heat.

So, what does this mean in the grand scheme of things? What does this say about global warming?

The ridge

The reason for the heat wave is a high-pressure heat dome that will span from roughly San Diego to Kansas City, which is caused by global warming. This ‘ridge,’ according to The Washington Post, is “more extreme than anything observed in this particular climate data set that dates back to 1979.” Sum and total: temperatures are higher than ever before because of global warming.

New findings, by Curbed show that  there is a “ninety-five percent chance that the changing, warming climate created that high pressure ridge—aka the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge—that’s kept rain from falling on California for years—and will probably do it again. Global warming has at least tripled the probability of the atmospheric condition that produced the ridge.”

Severe seasonality

Global warming often causes longer and more severe seasons, which explains the spike in temperatures in the southwest region.

In essence, global warming throws the climate out of whack. Shifts in seasonal events can have direct implications for humans, “because we, as human societies, are adapted to certain seasonal conditions,” said Shannon McNeeley, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) who has studied how a mismatch is playing out in Alaska. There, changes in the moose migrations have made it difficult for native people to obtain the meat they need during the legal hunting season.

It is nothing new

El Niño and wind patterns contribute to and directly cause the high temperatures. However, these increases are relatively small compared to “the anthropogenically driven increase in global temperature since pre-industrial times,” which was reported by The Guardian.

The models that predict climate data are claiming that the ridge is more extreme than anything we have seen in the past 45 years.

Environmental damage

Climate change causes damage to our environment: high temperatures dry out water sources and also lead to wildfires, which burn down trees. In consequence, there are fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide and harmful gasses, like sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Extreme weather events

What does this mean long term? If temperatures continue to increase, there will be a heightened risk of extreme and destructive weather events like floods, droughts, storms, and heat waves. We may not be able to live without air conditioning, and some researchers predict a massive decline in the viability of food crops critical for human survival. Furthermore, ecosystems will fail, ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, and animals will face extinction.

So, this heat wave is a sign of global warming. If we don’t do anything, every day could be like this past weekend. There is plenty we can do to help global warming; check out some tips here!