We've grown used to warnings about dangerous "wet bulb" temperatures in places like India and Southeast Asia, but this is the first time I can recall seeing it in the Caribbean...
Parts of Puerto Rico reached a life-threatening heat index of 125 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, driven by a combination of an intense heat dome, El Niño, and climate change.
Puerto Rico is so hot this week that it’s baffling some weather experts, who warn that other parts of the world will likely experience similar extreme heat this year as climate change and an exceptionally strong El Niño drive global temperatures to historic highs.
Florida-based meteorologist Jeff Berardelli warned of “life-threatening heat” in Puerto Rico, with conditions on the island becoming “so hot that some meteorologists are astonished.”
The heat index — which combines temperature with humidity — soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across much of the territory on Monday, with parts of Puerto Rico reaching a heat index as high as 125 degrees. High humidity combined with high temperatures can be especially dangerous since less sweat can evaporate off your body to cool it off.
Berardelli linked Puerto Rico’s extreme heat spell this week to several overlapping factors, including the formation of a fierce heat dome just east of the island, a strong El Niño weather pattern amplifying heat waves, and other extreme weather and climate change generally making the oceans warmer. Tropical oceans, he said, have warmed roughly 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the Industrial Revolution.
The high temperatures might also be getting impacted by what Berardelli called a “wavy jet stream,” when the fast flowing air current that moves around the upper hemisphere of the planet gets interrupted and wobbles like a spinning top rotating off kilter. It’s the same mechanism that has also caused the polar vortex to shoot down into southern states in the U.S. in recent winters, and scientists believe climate change is playing a role in that interruption.
Ultimately, Berardelli said, Puerto Rico’s heat wave shouldn’t be viewed as an isolated incident, and he warned that other parts of the world should anticipate similar hot spells in the coming months.
“As we go deeper into 2023 and El Niño intensifies, we should expect a stunning year of global extremes which boggle the meteorological mind,” he said. “The base climate has heated due to greenhouse warming and a strong El Niño will push us to limits we have yet to observe.”
TNT NBA crew awfully quiet about Strus playing like an undrafted player on the last play of game 6. Back to inbounds passed. Chasing ghosts. Completely missing box out. Like an undrafted player #nba#playoffs#heat#celtics
#Climate action is not expensive:
doing nothing is.
"Economic #losses from [#ExtremeWeather, #climate and #water-related events] have soared. But improved early warnings and coordinated #DisasterManagement has slashed the human casualty toll over the past half a century. Over 90% of reported deaths worldwide occurred in developing countries.
"#ExtremeHeat caused by human-driven #ClimateChange has likely cut more than $16 trillion from the global economy between 1992 and 2013 and potentially as much as $65 trillion"
That's a 20-year span. Quite apart from the dollar amounts, there's the loss of life, as heat is a silent killer.
#Boston and #LosAngeles will head to the #NBA finals after rousing, come from behind, 4-game winning streaks we've seen no hint they're capable of yet. Fret not! They were luring the #Nuggets and #Heat into a false sense of...
Oh, heck. I can't even kid myself. I smell toast. 0-3 toast. Or I have COVID again. Toast!
Fire Joe. Bring in Nurse. Sign and trade Jaylen, assets and picks for Joel. Let him rest and play your deep bench during the regular season. #Celtics#Heat#Sixers#NBA#NBAPlayoffs
Northern California is cooler than average for May, but we're warmer than yesterday... that trend will continue! I'll have your 7-day weather forecast at 4, 5, 6, 10 & 11pm!
Researchers pored over satellite imagery to create one of the most comprehensive data sets on the global mining footprint ever generated.
The data set maps out in fine detail the boundaries of a combined 65,585 km2 (25,323 mi2) of mining sites across the world.
Nearly 10% of the total mining areas mapped in the study fell inside protected areas like national parks, Ramsar wetlands and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
"...impacted by #climate change
in the future, or #sea level rise and extreme #heat. How are they situated in relation to human settlements and #Indigenous populations?..."
Heat exchangers are very exciting. This article looks at a swedish company who install a heat exchanger in a restaurant which captures the waste heat from cooking and uses it to drop their heating bills by 90% a year and its carbon footprint by 30 tonnes!
I have three redundant #AC units at work. If they all fail, I want to know. So I can race to work and pop doors and set fans and dump #heat. Thankfully I haven’t needed to do it once. But knowing the temperature of my machine room helps me sleep at night. I don’t worry over it. Heh, pennies for peace of mind. #today#infotech
At halftime it's #Heat 54 #Knicks 51. #NBA games get interesting with 2 1/2 minutes of game time to go. That's also when an added half hour of timeouts and free throws begins.