Scientists from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in London and Columbia University in New York have created the first global map of climate hazardous zones. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Experts examined heat waves over the last 65 years and identified areas where extreme heat was much stronger than average seasonal temperatures.
These heat waves have mostly been observed in the last five years, but some occurred in the early 2000s or earlier.
The regions most affected by the climate include Central China, Japan, Korea, the Arabian Peninsula, Eastern Australia and parts of South America and the Arctic.
But the most intense and consistent signal comes from northwestern Europe, where a series of heat waves is causing an estimated 60,000 deaths in 2022 and 47,000 in 2023.
Climate disasters have occurred in Germany, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, among other countries. This September, new maximum temperature records were set in Austria, France, Hungary, Slovenia, Norway and Sweden. Many parts of the southwestern United States and California also experienced record temperatures through October.
Temperature extremes in these regions have been increasing faster than average summer temperatures, at rates much higher than predicted by the most advanced climate models over the past few decades.
However, this phenomenon is not seen everywhere. The study found that temperature increases in many other regions were lower than models predicted.
These include large areas of the northern United States and southern Canada, the interior of South America, much of Siberia, North Africa, and northern Australia.
The study was an important step towards addressing the increased risk caused by extreme and unprecedented heat by identifying regions that have historically faced rapidly increasing risk and measuring the ability of models to reproduce these signals.
Previous scientists I learnedexactly how heat is exacerbating the problem of a changing climate.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.