US heat wave and global warming
JUL 05, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026148
Scientific American : Over the past week, more than 2000 temperature records were matched or broken as a heat wave struck much of the US, and the month of June saw more than 3200 records topped, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski attributed the heat wave in part to the lack of snow in the central plains area this past winter. Instead of the Sun melting snow, it heated the ground, which in turn heated the air. From Chicago to the East Coast, the heat wave fueled a violent wind storm, or derecho , which killed at least 22 people and left some 5 million people without power, according to an article in the Washington Post. Along with the historic wildfires and record droughts in the West, the news media have started to connect the series of extreme weather events with global warming, writes Stephen Lacey for ThinkProgress.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
