Fascinating maps have revealed the true scale of ‘one of the most intense heat events ever seen’ on Earth.
The maps show how cities across the Northern Hemisphere witnessed extreme temperatures in the past week, with records breaking in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Western Asia.
Nebraska-based meteorologist Nick Humphrey, who runs the ‘Ocean’s Wrath’ blog, said the extreme spell of hot weather shown in the maps amounted to ‘a true roasting’.
‘It is absolutely incredible and really one of the most intense heat events I’ve ever seen for so far north,’ he said.
Humphrey made the comments after analysing weather data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer maps – and he believes the high temperatures show no signs of subsiding.
Record-breaking temperatures across the world have been captured by satellite images and computer climate models. One expert is particularlyl concerned about their effects at two specific location in Northern Siberia, circled at the top on this graphic created by the University Of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer software
Climate Reanalyzer is a platform developed by the University of Maine and the National Science Foundation to visualise the global climate.
It provides 10-day forecasts across the world as well as maps that link to old station data.
The latest maps simulate the maximum temperatures last week showing temperatures measured at two metres above the ground.
Temperature records worldwide were shattered by an unusual global heatwave in recent weeks.
Stifling heat cracked roads and buckled roofs across Britain, as Motherwell hit the highest temperature ever recorded in Scotland at 91.8°F (33.2°C). The previous record was 91.2°F (32.9°C) set in August 2003 at Greycrook.
Glasgow had its hottest day on record, hitting 89.4°F (31.9°C). This exceeded a previous peak of previous peak of 87.9°F (31.1°C), recorded in 1950.
In Ireland, on June 28 Belfast also reached a record high, as it hit 85.1°F (29.5°C). Shannon also hit its own record at 89.6°F (32°C). In Northern Ireland, Castlederg hit 86.2°F (30.1°C) on June 29, its record highest. These are the hottest temperatures recorded on the island since 1976.
In Canada, Montreal smashed its previous record for the hottest temperature, as readings showed 97.9 °F (36.6°C). Ottawa posted its most extreme combination of heat and humidity on July 1.
Meanwhile in the US, Denver, the Colorado state capital, tied its all-time high-temperature record of 105°F (40°C) on June 28
Burlington, in Vermont, set its all-time warmest low temperature ever, recording a low of 80°F (27°C) within the 24 hour period on July 2.
Experts are concerned at the extreme meteorological events, with previous all time hottest temperature measurements smashed across the globe. This graph shows high temperatures along the Laptev Sea in Northern Siberia on Wednesday, July 4, taken from the Global Forecast System run by the United States’ National Weather Service
One researcher is particularly worried about the effect this heat wave will have on the already fragile Arctic. This graphs shows temperatures on the morning of Thursday, July 4, along the Laptev Sea, taken from the Global Forecast System run by the United States’ National Weather Service
Whilst the islands in Western Europe smouldered in its own heatwave, Eurasia was baking as well.
Yerevan, in the previously Soviet state of Armenia, saw temperatures soar to 107.6°F (42°C).
Russia, the host country of the World Cup this year, is also in the midst of a heatwave and several spots across the south of the world’s largest country either matched or exceeded their warmest June temperatures.
In the Middle-Eastern nation of Oman, the lowest temperature for 24 hours on June 28 was 108.7°F (42.6°C) in the coastal city of Quriyat’s.
These fantastical numbers come just months after Pakistan posted the hottest temperature ever seen on Earth.
Humphrey expressed his concerns over high temperatures at two specific location in Northern Siberia, along the coast of the Arctic Ocean.
Computer model analyses showed that temperatures soared 20°C (40°F) above normal on July 5, to over 30°C (90°F), what he describes as a ‘true roasting’ for this area.
He predicts that events will cause maximum daily temperatures as high as 32 to 35°C (90 to 95°F) at the Laptev Sea and Eastern Siberian Sea later this week.
Writing in his blog, he said: ‘I’ve looked over the European model and there appears to be general agreement over the intensity and timing of this extreme event.’
This image shows high temperatures along the far western portion of the Eastern Siberian Sea in Northern Sibera on Friday, July 6, taken from the Global Forecast System run by the United States’ National Weather Service
This image shows high temperatures along the far western portion of the Eastern Siberian Sea in Northern Sibera on the afternoon of Thursday, July 5 (local time) taken from the Global Forecast System run by the United States’ National Weather Service
As well as the intense daytime heat, Mr Humphrey says computer models indicate high nighttime temperatures at sea of around 15 to 20°C (60°F), with 21 to 26°C (70°F) inland.
During the day, strong offshore wind blowing hot air offshore out to sea capable of heating waters and destroying more and more sea ice, he added.
Climate change has sent temperatures skyrocketing in the far north of the planet over just the past 20 years.
That’s been reflected in the rapid rise in wintertime temperatures, but it’s increasingly being reflected in summertime temperatures as well.
As a result, more and more sea ice disappears earlier in the season, leaving more dark blue ocean to absorb more daytime sunlight.
This heating of the ocean surface by low albedo – surface very low reflectivity so that little sunlight is reflected back off into space – causes some heat to be released back to the atmosphere above, speeding up warming of the Arctic region.
While an isolated heatwave can be put down as an anomaly, the scale of this phenomenon points to global warming as the culprit, scientists said last week. This graphic created by the University Of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer software
This is known as Arctic Amplification.
Experts including Dr Jennifer Francis, a research professor at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University, and others claim that Arctic Amplification is causing an abrupt weakening of the polar jet stream.
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow currents of air that carry warm and cold air across the planet, much like the currents of a river.
They cover thousands of miles as they meander near the tropopause layer of our atmosphere.
The strongest jet streams are the polar jets, found 30,000 to 39,000 ft (5.7 to 7.4 miles/ 9 to 12 km) above sea level at the north and south pole.
The weakening is causing the polar jet to become much wavier, with greater wave ‘breaks’ and blocking patterns where waves sit in the same place for weeks promote extreme weather patterns.
Climate change has sent temps skyrocketing in the far north of the planet over just the past 20 years. This graph shows average temperature anomalies in the region over the past 30 days, relative to a 1981 to 2010 baseline. It was created Dr Karsten Haustein of the University of Oxford using data from the US Global Forecast System
As a result of global warming more and more sea ice disappears earlier in the season, leaving more dark blue ocean to absorb more daytime sunlight. This image shows ice concentrations in the region taken at the beginning of July 2018 and was created by the University of Bremen, using data from their Arctic sea ice concentration browser
That includes extreme cold relative to normal as well as extreme heat, very wet, and drought conditions.
It can also lead to severe conditions like those that hit Britain in February and March, dubbed the Beast from the East.
In addition to the immediate impact on sea ice, there is also the impact on permafrost, Mr Humphrey warns.
An increase in these kind of intense heat events hitting the Arctic at the height of summer will result in more rapid destruction of land permafrost, he claims.
This will lead to even further heating of the shallow waters just offshore where sub-sea permafrost is located.
This will allowed for increasingly more carbon dioxide and methane to be released into the atmosphere, speeding up global warming and resulting in ever faster. climate change.