The Canadian heat wave hit 49.5℃, killing hundreds of people. Why did this happen?
According to reports, you may already know that Canada’s persistent high temperatures are due to the so-called “thermal dome” effect, which is a phenomenon in which high pressure in the atmosphere concentrates in a specific area and pushes warm air to the ground. And when the warm air tries to rise, the high-pressure system above will push the warm air back to the ground. When the warm air is further compressed, the temperature in the area will further rise. Therefore, when a heat wave hits, the heat will not be affected at all. It can be hidden everywhere, just like a vegetable greenhouse. But many people don’t know why the “heat dome” effect occurs in Canada near the Arctic.
Meteorological experts from many countries said that Canada’s “heat dome” is also the result of climate warming. In the international meteorological definition, if the temperature in an area is higher than the historical average for two consecutive days or more, it can be defined as a "heat wave." This hot weather in Canada has reached the heat wave standard.
Although it is difficult to link any independent meteorological event to the increase in earth temperature in meteorology, global warming will indeed increase the probability of extreme weather such as heat waves, and both frequency and intensity will increase. In addition, this high temperature in Canada has broken the national high temperature record, and even broke the 84-year high temperature record in some areas. Therefore, we have reason to believe that this high temperature is related to global warming.
In addition, the fact that the hot air in Canada has lasted for so long this time is also related to the "hot dome" lasting too long. The reason why the "hot dome" lasts for such a long time is due to its own strength. . Traditionally, the "hot dome" effect generally does not last more than 24 hours before being dissipated by the fast-flowing airflow high in the atmosphere. However, Canada's "hot dome" not only withstood several rounds of airflow, but also fixed the airflow around itself. This This further promoted the stability of the "heat dome", which is why hundreds of people were killed by heat every week.
Some people may wonder why Canadians don’t turn on air conditioners during high temperatures, and why hundreds of people die from heat. This would never happen in our country. In fact, this is related to the traditional climate of Southern California. . Canada itself has a higher latitude than our country, and the climate is usually very mild. Many homes do not have air conditioning, and air-conditioned buildings are mostly stadiums, shopping malls, etc., so Canada cannot be measured by our latitude.
In addition, in high-temperature weather, the perceived temperature in cities will be higher than the actual measured temperature, because people and buildings in urban spaces are relatively dense and absorb far more heat than rural areas. Therefore, under the influence of high temperature, Heat deaths occur more often in Canadian cities.
As for what humans should do in the question, there is no good answer to this, because global warming is already a commonplace topic, and the views of countries around the world on dealing with global warming are basically the same. However, many regulations are not implemented in the agreed direction. Perhaps in the future, in addition to combating global warming, the example of major countries will be more important.