Much of the U.S.’ West Coast has been caught off-guard by the recent heat wave that blasted the West Coast with blistering heat this week. Tonight, we will find out more about what’s behind the heat wave.
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Summer can be a fun time for kids, but when it comes to sweltering heat, suffice it to say, it’s not that fun.
Record daily highs in temperatures were observed this week in parts of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. According to experts, a high pressure dome combines with the worst drought in modern history is to blame for the triple-digit temperature record.
Rather than sit around and worry that the same fate might occur in other parts of the world, scientists stopped at nothing to investigate.
It turns out that the heat comes from a high pressure system over the West, a buckle in the jet stream winds that move across the U.S., rendering vast swaths of soil bone dry.
A senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Phoenix described the heat wave as unusual, because records revealed heat waves usually arrive later and don’t stay that long.
Climate change is believed to be the culprit. It is also to blame for wildfires that have erupted in recent days. Factoring the temperatures and humidity into the results, scientists said wildfires most likely erupted because of climate change, which contributes to the drought conditions and makes trees and shrubs more likely to catch fire.
At least 14 new wildfires are reported to have broken out this week in Montana and Wyoming as a result of the record heat.
Climate change will only exacerbate the problems, and trigger more extreme heat waves in the future, unless officials take bold steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
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