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US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

theguardian.com

11–20 of 160 posts

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#12

Is there an estimated timeframe for when people will start to experience the impact of the climate crisis instead of only hearing about it?

Pretty sure an increase in average temperatures can be seen pretty much everywhere at this point.

Though its effect on weather patterns is harder to estimate.

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#13
post #5

We have experienced the coldest winter since 2011 in the Southern Hemisphere (at least South Africa) this year. The summer was also warmer than average. I wonder what less conservative global warming forecasts would look like, and whether the winter this year will be average in US and CA.

"Global warming" involves extremes of temperature on both ends of the scale, and "coldest winters" are not inconsistent with that.

Think about a pot of hot water vs. one that's boiling. The surface of the water in the boiling pot is not smooth, it has peaks and troughs. The level of some of those troughs will be lower than the level of the water in a less energetic pot.

The situation with global warming is similar, although much less simple (pots of water don't have seasons, among other things.) More energy in the atmosphere and the Earth's crust translates into more extreme temperature fluctuations, both up and down. However, the average will inevitably be higher. Basic physics doesn't allow for anything else.

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#14

Is there an estimated timeframe for when people will start to experience the impact of the climate crisis instead of only hearing about it?

Dozens dead and more than one million people displaced by flooding in China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/21/china-floods...

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#15

Is there an estimated timeframe for when people will start to experience the impact of the climate crisis instead of only hearing about it?

I think ca 2150 would be a reasonable non-cranky estimate, assuming current trends hold.

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#16
post #14

Is there an estimated timeframe for when people will start to experience the impact of the climate crisis instead of only hearing about it?

Dozens dead and more than one million people displaced by flooding in China https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/21/china-floods...

This is the first time this happens in the history of the universe

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#17
post #16
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dozens dead and more than one million people displaced by flooding in China https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/21/china-floods...

This is the first time this happens in the history of the universe

No effect of global warming will be a historic first. It's about the frequency of events and the rate of change.

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#18

Is there an estimated timeframe for when people will start to experience the impact of the climate crisis instead of only hearing about it?

The impact is happening right now. There will be increasingly more extreme weather events over time, heat waves, cold waves, flooding, hurricanes, etc. The frequency of events and extremeness of events are increasing.

Re: US set for punishing temperatures as ‘heat dome’ to settle over country

#19

Is there an estimated timeframe for when people will start to experience the impact of the climate crisis instead of only hearing about it?

That depends on your definition of "impact". Everybody currently alive has experienced some effect of climate change already. Where I live for example the number of days with >30°C per year has roughly doubled since I was born.
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