Heat Dome

 Heat Dome: Several times this summer, devastating heat waves have rocked the western US. At the center of these heat waves are "heat domes," vast areas of strong high pressure, beneath which the air is compressed and heated. These are the main moments of summer and are the source of most heat waves.

We will explain how they work. Copy correct image: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/07/10/heat-dome-heat-wave-faq/

The mass of warm air produced by the hot summer sun expands perpendicular to the air, creating a high-pressure dome and spreading into the surrounding weather systems. . Because high-pressure systems are so rigidly set up, the collapse of the air beneath them heats the air and causes the loss of clouds. The high angle of the summer sun warms the earth with a cloudless sky. But amid drought conditions, the bad feedback loop doesn't end there. The combination of heat and the evening view will help intensify the heat waves. Because of the very low humidity in the soil, thermal energy is usually available by evaporation – the cooling process – rather than by wind energy and direct soil heating. Jane Wilson Baldwin, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Laboratory, says the current severe drought in the West is bringing up many ideas for corroding the heat domes between Earth and the atmosphere.

 

"When the soil surface is dry, it cannot cool itself by evaporation, which heats the surface, which strengthens the high barrier [heat dome]," he said in an interview. The situation is exacerbated by the rise in background temperatures due to the burning of fossil fuels. "You will be forced to release the energy of heat waves that don't get worse under global warming," he said, adding that the increase in the intensity and duration of heat waves is particularly noticeable.

Simulation of the heat dome on July 10, 2021 showing the height of the atmosphere at a pressure of 500 millibars. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/07/10/heat-dome-heat-wave-fok //

One way to measure the strength of a heat dome is to measure the normal half-point height of the lower atmosphere at a pressure level of 500 mbar. As this pressure level increases, it heats up because warm air is less dense than cold air and expands vertically into the air.

It is rare for this pressure level to reach an altitude of 600 decimeters, or 19,685 feet, but this summer and recently some hotspots have reached limits or reached eclipses. vehicle

Evidence suggests that climate change significantly increases the frequency of heat domes, as warm air pushes them into the air instead of adding more air to the balloons.

 

Heat Dome Definition

Summer is hot weather - sometimes dangerous heat - and intense heat waves have been frequent for decades. Residual rash develops on the so-called hot dome. Strong, high atmospheric pressure conditions combined with the effects of La Nia create extensive areas of controlled elevated heat under a highly excitable "dome". A team of scientists funded by the NOAA MAPP project investigated the multiplication of heat domes and found that a strong change (or slope) in ocean temperatures from west to east in the tropics was the main cause. Pacific Ocean last winter.

Think of a swimming pool when the heater is running - the temperature of the areas around the jet heater will rise faster and it will take longer for other parts of the pool to heat up. If one thinks that the Pacific is a large pool, the western Pacific will have an increase in temperature over the past few decades compared to the eastern Pacific, creating a stronger temperature gradient or pressure variation and further moving air. These A. in the cold. In a process called convection, the slope causes warm air, which warms the ocean surface, to rise in the western Pacific and decrease in the central and eastern Pacific. As the prevailing wind moves the warm air east, the northern jet stream moves the air toward the ground, where the heat waves come from.

Heat Dome Effect

Residents who did not have an aircon found that the rise in temperature in their home was unstable and led to sudden death in parts of Canada and the United States. Meteorologists say heat engines can damage crops, dry out plants and cause thirst. A rising heat wave will increase the demand for energy, especially electricity, which will drive up prices. Thermal domes can also serve as fuel for wildfires, which can cost up to US dollars a year. destruction of many lands.