A new study has found a self-reinforcing interaction between temperature, soil moisture, and atmospheric pressure is being triggered at high temperatures, making extreme heatwaves 10 percent hotter than they would otherwise be.
A new study has found a self-reinforcing interaction between temperature, soil moisture, and atmospheric pressure is being triggered at high temperatures, making extreme heatwaves 10 percent hotter than they would otherwise be. The study was published today in Science Advances and led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Local temperature records have been shattered in heatwave hotspots where “mega heatwaves” have been increasing in frequency faster than more moderate extreme heat events in recent years. Notable examples include the 2022 heatwave in Europe, where temperatures in the UK topped 40°C for the first time, and the 2021 summer heatwave in the US Pacific Northwest, where recorded temperatures reached 4.6°C above previous records.
The new study identifies an emerging physical process underlying the most extreme heatwaves by using machine learning methods and statistical analysis. It found that most extreme heat events in the mid-latitudes (for example, Europe, southern Russia and Mongolia, eastern and north-western North America, north-western India, the western coast of South America, central and southern Africa, and northern interior Australia), are being topped up by soil moisture, atmospheric pressure and temperature interacting to drive higher temperatures.
Read More: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
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