'Heat dome' traps extreme temperatures across southern Europe, says expert

The Manila Times

'Heat dome' traps extreme temperatures across southern Europe, says expert  As extreme temperatures gripped Southern Europe on Monday, June 30, an expert warned that such heatwaves are likely to become more frequent due to climate change. The current heatwave is due to a weather phenomenon called a "heat dome," said Kirsty McCabe, meteorologist at the Royal Meteorological Society. "The heat dome is almost acting like the lid in a pot, and it's trapping that hot air underneath it." Spain is on course for its hottest June on record, the national meteorological service AEMET said, forecasting temperatures to peak at 42°C in Seville. Italy's Health Ministry issued red alerts for 16 cities, with Florence expected to reach 41°C, Bologna 38°C, and Perugia 37°C, according to weather website IlMeteo.it.   REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  Soundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud   #themanilatimes #tmtnews #worldnews

Transcript

00:00The main reason we've got really high temperatures across southern Europe at the moment is due to

00:22something called a heat dome and that's where we've got an area of high pressure that's got

00:26blocked and with high pressure the air is descending and when air is descending it means that we're not

00:32going to see any clouds forming we're not going to see any unsettled weather but we are tending to

00:36see the air getting trapped and when the air is sinking it warms there's something called adiabatic

00:41warming as well and we end up with a situation where day on day if the high pressure gets stuck

00:45where it is which is what's happening we get homegrown heating adding to that so we've already

00:50got high temperatures because of the time of year but the longer the high pressure stays in place the

00:54temperatures keep rising day by day because the heat dome is almost acting like the lid in a pot and

00:58it's trapping that hot air underneath it we've seen extremely high temperatures and very dry conditions

01:03too across spain portugal france and also parts of hungary have also had extremely high temperatures

01:08and drought conditions as well so it's not just affecting one area it's quite a wide area of europe

01:13struggling with these very high temperatures at the moment which according to climate central if you

01:18take a look at the previous temperatures over like decades we can see that these temperatures are

01:25three to five times more likely than they would have been without the impact of human induced climate

01:30change so we're seeing these higher temperatures as a direct consequence of climate change unfortunately

01:36it does seem quite likely that we will be seeing more of this in the future we've had quite a few studies

01:41out earlier in the year so for example we're in the uk we're now um 50 50 chance we'll see another 40

01:48degree day within the next 12 years we're going to be seeing more days above 40 degrees certainly more

01:54days above even 34 or 35 degrees and across europe of course the temperatures are even higher and it is

02:00more likely to see more days like that but when it comes to the reality if we're talking about 40 degrees

02:05in in terms of a shade or an air temperature if you're in direct sunlight if you're on the underground

02:11if you're in a house it's not well designed then those temperatures are so much higher and that's

02:17why you know obviously such high temperatures have a really bad impact on people because we can't cool

02:21down well at night and even if the thermometer's not that high it can be so much hotter especially

02:27if the humidity is an issue as well so i think it's also worth bearing in mind that the numbers we talk

02:31about aren't the be-all and end-all it's how it feels to people that really has an impact on our health

02:35problem

02:38what is up

02:40how do we need help

02:41priedy

02:43how can ta

02:46run

02:47knife

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