The Science Behind Arizona’s Record-Setting Heat Wave
▻https://psmag.com/environment/terrifying-heat-waves-in-arizona
- The United States Border Patrol stepped up safety messages, saying “it is physically impossible for the average person to carry enough water to survive.”
– The National Weather Service also warned against walking pets outdoors, saying that at pavement temperatures above 162 degrees (consistent with air temperatures of 102 [= 39°C]), skin is instantly destroyed.
Also on Monday, American Airlines canceled 38 flights previously scheduled for Phoenix on Tuesday—simply because it will be too hot to fly. It’s not necessarily that the pilots and ground crew will need extra rest, it’s that the planes’ wings themselves weren’t designed to perform under such conditions. Hotter air is thinner, and provides less lift, making it difficult for planes to take off.
As for here in Tucson, where I live, it’s so hot right now, I can’t think straight. Even indoors, a heat like this consumes you. “Cold” water from the tap is hot to the touch. You feel trapped; your daily routine changes to accommodate the inferno.
[...] In short, the background signal of global warming makes the entire atmosphere thinner and less dense, supporting stronger high-pressure centers like the one camped out over Arizona this week, which then tend to get stuck in place—cranking up the thermostat over a multi-state region.
