The Business Press – June 27, 2023 at 03:30AM
Scorching temperatures brought on by a “heat dome” have caused severe strain on the Texas power grid and pose record highs for the state. The deadly heat is expected to expand northwards to the Mississippi Valley, parts of western Alabama, Kansas City, and the entire state of Oklahoma.
Bob Oravec, the lead forecaster with the National Weather Service, has warned that there will not be any relief before the Fourth of July holiday. Temperatures around 110 degrees Fahrenheit are expected in parts of western Texas on Monday.
What exactly is a heat dome? Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon explains that it occurs when stationary high pressure with warm air combines with warmer than usual air in the Gulf of Mexico and heat from the sun that is nearly directly overhead. Heightened levels of humidity in the air aloft have made this current heat wave more intense than ever before.
The situation is further compounded by the fact that additional moisture that would otherwise have served as an air conditioner has not been able to take effect. These unprecedented changes have amplified concerns over the human-caused climate change that has been resulting in rising temperatures in Texas.
The average daily high temperatures in Texas have increased by 2.4 degrees 0.8 degrees per decade since 1993, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Texas is not the only state affected by this situation. Oregon’s Multnomah County, for instance, recently filed a $1.5 billion lawsuit against more than a dozen large fossil fuel companies to recover costs related to extreme weather events linked to climate change, which was a substantial factor in causing and exacerbating a heat dome that killed 69 people.
As the world grapples with the consequences of climate change, the situation in Texas remains a testament to the urgent need for mitigation and adaptation measures to be taken, and for more in-depth research and understanding of the climate, to avoid such preventable scenarios in the future.
The Business Press 