Thank you John - An excellent article, well researched and apt.I was pleased to see it recognised that the 35 deg C fatal wet bulb temperature has been challenged, you can have unsurvivable outdoor wet bulb temperatures substantially lower, which are now being much more regularly experienced. It is now too late to avoid many of these effects. This article will be read in the future not as a forecast, but as a requiem.
You can pursue the matter further here, where there's a striking interactive map of recorded wet bulb temperatures around the globe.
One thing that isn't mentioned, and it should be, and I blame climate scientists for this because they continue to miss making the point, is that the northern hemisphere, and its landmasses, where 80% of the human population live, have rising temperatures nearly twice the global average, which is what is usually discussed. For this 80% temperatures have already risen nearly 2 deg. This explains the floods in Europe, a 2 deg C rise in air temperature can hold 14% more water vapour, which if it condenses in cooler air, will increase the severity of the rain fall, in amount and in speed, by 14%, Think of the severest rain fall you've ever experienced, and increase it by this amount.
PS when I read the BBC article on its original URL, two adverts for overseas holidays and flights here in NZ appeared.
Re: 100% humidity heatwaves are spreading across the Earth. That's a deadly problem for us…
Yes, it's the differential temperature increases (northern vs southern hemisphere; continental vs coastal) that are important as they lead to differential impacts, especially on agriculture.
PS when I read the BBC article on its original URL, two adverts for overseas holidays and flights here in NZ appeared.
on September 19, 2024, 1:09 am