Las Vegas broke all-time heat records over the July 4th weekend, with temperatures rising to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The event was part of a heat wave sweeping the western United States [emphasis, links added]
The heat wave brought a flurry of dramatic media coverage.
This summer’s heat wave made headlines san francisco chronicle Claims that 120 degrees is equivalent to the temperature of a pizza oven. Commercial pizza ovens reach temperatures close to 1,000 degrees, and home-baked pizzas cook between 425 and 500 degrees.
As a heat wave sweeps across the West Coast, Los Angeles Times The editorial board believes Life would be better if we got rid of fossil fuels.
“We live in a dangerous new era, in which humanity’s continued emissions of greenhouse gas pollution are making disasters more frequent, more destructive and deadlier.” era The board thinks.
Global average temperatures are rising, and carbon dioxide emissions are a factor in this rise. But science is far from settled on how much of the warming is caused by carbon dioxide and how much is caused by nature.
In mitigating climate warming, even If we eliminated all carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels today, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations would fall to pre-industrial levels in more than a century.
Since eliminating emissions requires eliminating much of the energy consumed by humans, any subsequent heat wave, even if less severe and shorter in duration, is likely to be endured without air conditioning.
urban hot oven
Dr. Alec Feinberg, climate scientist, industrial physics consultant and founder of DfrSoft, tells us Just news That There are more effective ways to combat rising temperatures by addressing the so-called “urban heat island effect” (UHIE). Feinberg explains that UHIE is a result of heat flux.
“Heat flux is just a fancy scientific term for heat,” he said. It includes heat from sidewalks as well as heat from air conditioners. Air conditioners cool spaces by removing heat and then pumping the heat out of buildings, thereby raising temperatures within cities.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)a United Nations coalition of the world's leading climate researchers, Feiberg said, Do you think UHIE has any meaningful impact on temperature trends?but he disagreed.
“It has a very large local effect,” Feinberg said.
The early blooming cherry blossoms illustrate this point. Although the media blamed emissions for the early blooming of cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., last spring, research meteorologist Ryan Maue noted in an article on X, Land-use change and urbanization may drive early blooms more than the effects of carbon dioxide.
The urban heat island effect—which is important for peak cherry blossom bloom times—occurs on top of long-term warming.
In Japan, where the Washington, D.C., cherry blossom trees originate, scientists used very long records of cherry tree blooms… pic.twitter.com/upYZfVsi0j
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) March 17, 2024
Chris Martz, a senior atmospheric science student at Millersville University said Just news This March, the Global Historical Climate Network Daily Network has five stations around the Washington metropolitan area.
Martz compiled data from sites with average spring temperatures dating back to 1893. Martz found data showing that there has been no warming trend in rural and suburban areas around Washington, D.C., since at least 1921
Feinberg published a paper in UHIE and found that Urbanization contributes 12.7% to the global annual average surface temperature. About half of that is caused by the energy people use, such as running air conditioners, Feinberg said.
The other half is caused by impermeable surfaces, namely building materials, asphalt and concrete that do not absorb water.
his research findings About 6.5% of global warming is caused by dark surfaces that absorb the sun's heat. By making these more reflective, he says, we can reduce warming.
“If these roads were concrete, global warming would be reduced by about 5.5 percent. So, in other words, we could make them more reflective because concrete is about four to five times brighter,” Feinberg explain.
On the other hand, reducing global emissions requires international cooperation, which is difficult to achieve, especially as developing countries strive to develop their economies.
Similarly, Reducing or eliminating fossil fuels is costly and has serious economic implications for European countries aggressively pursuing net zero targets.
On the other hand, making cities more reflective can be achieved through local government ordinances and have a more direct impact.
“Cities have a lot of stress-relieving capabilities,” Feinberg said.
what happened in las vegas
Dr. Matt Wielicki, former assistant professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama, said in his “Irrational Fear” substack Las Vegas provides a good example of how urban areas are driving rising temperatures.
The 10 hottest days in Las Vegas history over the past 22 years ranged from 114 degrees in 2002 and 2006 to 120 degrees on July 6.
Between 1980 and 2020, the population of Las Vegas increased from 273,000 to 2.3 million.
While the July 6 record was the highest ever recorded, The heat in Las Vegas over the past two decades is not unprecedented. For example, in 1942 the thermometer reached 116 degrees.
Temperature monitoring stations are frequently installed at the airport, and passenger throughput at Las Vegas Airport has expanded from 1 million passengers per year in the 1950s to 50 million passengers in 2019.
“The expansion includes multiple runway extensions, terminal upgrades and increased tarmac area, all of which exacerbate the urban heat island effect by replacing the natural desert landscape with heat-trapping infrastructure,” Velitsky wrote.
Millersville meteorology student Martz noted in a post on The weather station at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas is less than 200 feet from the six-lane thoroughfare and 500 feet from the runway.
I did some further investigation. 🔎
Of course, today's reading of 120° in Las Vegas was measured at the ASOS station at Harry Reid (formerly McCarran) International Airport. ✈️
However, this is not a bad thing. The ASOS station is less than 200 feet from the six-lane Parkway (Sunset Road)… https://t.co/x8hxcDpYDB pic.twitter.com/Xy3aebLas4
— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) July 8, 2024
“The assertion that greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon dioxide, are the sole cause of record temperatures in Las Vegas is oversimplified and ignores important local factors,” Velitsky wrote.
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