Europe heatwave: a number of reasons, climate change most worrying

Europe heatwave: a number of reasons, climate change most worrying

Subject :Geography

Section: Climatology

Context:  Some places in Britain Tuesday recorded temperatures above 40°C, the first time any place in the United Kingdom breached this mark

Factors causing European Heat Wave:

• On the global scale, climate change has been driving the temperatures upwards, which, in general, is evident across the world.
• Local factors: a low pressure system over the European region has been found to be attracting hot air from northern Africa. An unusual warming in the Arctic Ocean is also said to be playing a role.
• A slow moving high pressure area has been transporting hot air from North Africa over western and parts of central Europe.
• The hot air is moving northwards, first affecting Portugal, Spain, France and UK.
• This kind of local events are often short lived and their impacts dissipate over a few days.
• The introduction of moister air from the Atlantic is triggering the risk of thunderstorms and heavy showers for parts of the UK.
• The worrying part is the rise in temperatures due to global warming.

Concept:

Heat Wave:

The World Meteorological Organization defines it as five or more consecutive days during which the daily maximum temperature surpasses the average maximum temperature by 5 °C (9 °F) or more.

The India Meteorological Department requires that temperatures increase 5–6 °C (9–10.8 °F) or more above the normal temperature

WMO:

• The World Meteorological Organization(WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics
• The WMO is made up of 193 countries and territories, and facilitates the “free and unrestricted” exchange of data, information, and research between the respective meteorological and hydrological institutions of its members

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the WMO is governed by the World Meteorological Congress, composed of member states, which meets every four years to set policies and priorities