US EditionStudy finds planetary waves linked to wild summer weather have tripled since 1950
- Research appearing mid-June in a leading scientific journal reveals that the occurrence of planetary waves associated with severe summer weather has increased threefold since the 1950s.
- The increase in these atmospheric wave events is happening more often due to human-caused climate change, driven mainly by fossil fuel burning and accelerated Arctic warming.
- Planetary waves typically flow across Earth but sometimes amplify, making the jet stream wavier and trapping weather systems, which causes persistent heat, drought, and heavy rains.
- Michael Mann described how planetary waves are constantly moving around the Earth, but at times their intensity increases, causing the jet stream to develop more pronounced undulations with larger peaks and troughs. Jennifer Francis cautioned that if humanity continues to release greenhouse gases at the current rate, various factors are likely to contribute to more severe summer weather conditions.
- Dr. Matthew Rodell said, "It's certainly scary," and noted that the rise in extreme events shows humanity remains unprepared for worsening natural disasters and climate impacts.
60 Articles
60 Articles
Amplified Rossby waves enhance risk of concurrent heatwaves in major breadbasket regions
In an interconnected world, simultaneous extreme weather events in distant regions could potentially impose high-end risks for societies1,2. In the mid-latitudes, circumglobal Rossby waves are associated with a strongly meandering jet stream and might cause simultaneous heatwaves and floods across the northern hemisphere3–6. For example, in the summer of 2018, several heat and rainfall extremes occurred near-simultaneously7. Here we show that Ro…
New research links stalled jet stream to rising summer weather extremes
The number of extreme summer weather events driven by trapped atmospheric waves has tripled since 1950 due to climate change, new research shows.Seth Borenstein reports for The Associated Press.In short:A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that amplified planetary waves — atmospheric patterns that can trap weather systems — are occurring three times more often than in the 1950s.These waves cause jet stre…
What are planetary waves? Scientists warn of more extreme weather events.
Scientists say that climate change has tripled the frequency of planetary waves linked to extreme summer weather. In the 1950s, there was one extreme weather event a year. Now, the Earth is experiencing three every summer.
WASHINGTON— Climate change has tripled the frequency of atmospheric wave events linked to extreme summer weather over the past 75 years, and that may explain why long-term computational forecasts continue to underestimate the rise in deadly heat waves, droughts, and floods, according to a new study. In the 1950s, Earth averaged approximately one planetary wave induced by extreme weather events each summer, but now there are about three each summ…
Climate change affects increasingly large areas of drought – with serious consequences for the economy, people and the environment. New OECD figures quantify the problem.
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