The climate crisis is the undisputed reality of our present and future. The world is becoming an increasingly warm place due to human triggers. According to experts, the average temperature worldwide has increased by 1.1 degrees and will continue to be so unless carbon emissions are brought under control.
1.1 degrees may not sound like a very high increase. But that’s an average value and actually has more of an impact than you might imagine. Increasing in number and prolonging heat waves around the world brings with it an increase in drought seasons, forest fires, and excessive precipitation and floods in some regions.
People really ‘die from the heat’
The moments when we go to the market and have a hard time enduring until we come home, and when we come home and go in front of the air conditioner, we say ‘I died from the heat’ are actually nothing. Because people all over the world are really dying from the heat.
The reason for the increase in deaths due to high temperatures is the more frequent and prolonged heat waves. One of the reasons why heat waves are so intense is the weather phenomenon called the heat dome. This concept, which we hear more often after the extreme heat and deaths in Europe and America, almost creates ‘hell’ above the ground.
So what is this heat dome?
In its simplest definition, a heat dome can be said to be the condensation of hot air in a region where pressure is high by pressing downwards under the influence of this pressure. In other words, the high pressure acts as a kind of ‘dome’, trapping the hot air inside, creating an inactive and high humidity air. When all these come together, a much higher temperature than normal is formed.
Some experts liken the situation to ‘a pot lid trapping hot air and circulating it inside the pot’. When investigating what causes the heat domes to form, it seems to be behind jet winds and high temperature changes in the oceans.
Jet winds are defined as winds that move from west to east in the upper parts of the atmosphere and exhibit an undulating flow between north-south directions while doing this. These winds move by following the boundaries between hot and cold air.
When the temperature changes and warming in the oceans and the changes in the strength and direction of the jet winds come together, the heat wave is trapped in a high pressure region and the above mentioned heat dome is formed.
Scientists say that high air temperatures and the temperature and pressure differences that occur change the movements of the jet winds. This, in turn, causes the jet winds, which create low pressure areas in the region it passes, to be unable to fulfill this task.
Heat domes can last for days or even weeks. As the time gets longer, the cycle can be repeated, increasing its effect. The heat dome effect is not a newly observed phenomenon. In fact, it is possible to say that the total number is tens of thousands when we look at the deaths experienced during the heat dome effect periods in the past years. But now it happens much more often and its effect is much stronger…
A vicious, repetitive cycle, each step connected to one another.
Unfortunately, as climate change-induced temperature changes continue to occur around the world, chain events of this nature, each of which feed each other, will be seen more frequently.
The oceans are warming. The pressure and temperature changes that occur affect the direction and strength of the winds. The pressure balances protected by the winds are disturbed. This leads to more overheating and deaths.
The heat dome creates an oven effect due to the humid and stagnant air, causing an increase in temperature-related deaths.
When the weather is very hot, our body sweats to keep the temperature down. However, as the humidity in the air increases, the body is prevented from dissipating heat with sweat. So our body cannot cool down. Due to this effect, the heat dome causes the body to not be able to cool down and causes various reactions in the body due to the heat.
Since the high humidity also increases the temperature felt, the air feels much warmer in the heat dome regions where the humidity is at the maximum level. When all these factors come together, ailments that result in death occur.
Forest fires, melting cables, roads spoiled by heat…
The heat dome has devastating effects on humans as well as the environment. The heat dome effect experienced in America, Canada and European countries doubled the number of forest fires.
The temperatures rose so high that cables, auto parts, traffic signs melted, and asphalt deteriorated. The chain of events that is the cause of all these effects is expected to occur more frequently in the coming years. In fact, scientists say that extreme temperatures such as 50 degrees may even be considered ‘cool’ in the coming years…
Experts draw attention to regular consumption of water to protect from heat, to avoid being under the sun during extremely hot hours of the day, and to seek professional support in case of symptoms such as nausea, weakness and dizziness.
Sources: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, British Royal Meteorological Society, Scientific American, BBC News
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