More intense and prolonged excessively hot temperatures in The Lone Star State have raised concerns over how global warming may impact this upward trend.
Summer is finally here, and that means families all over the country are starting to fire up the barbecue grill and open up their beach chairs. But summertime also means hot weather — sometimes dangerously hot. This threat is especially true for Texas where extreme heat waves have become more frequent in recent decades.
More intense and prolonged excessively hot temperatures in The Lone Star State have raised concerns over how global warming may impact this upward trend. This has ultimately led to the question: Why are we seeing the largest trend in Texas?
A team of scientists funded by the NOAA MAPP Program investigated this question and found the main culprit to be a strengthened change in ocean temperatures from west to east (or gradient) in the tropical Pacific during the preceding winter.
“Our study is the first to attribute the increasing frequency of Texas heat waves to the intensification of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature gradient,” said Kaiqiang Deng, lead author of the study. “Understanding the physical mechanisms and future trend of Texas heat waves is of benefit to society as a whole for better predictions and preparation.”
Continue reading at NOAA.
Image via NOAA.
