Heat and drought in the Northern Hemisphere are worrying scientists

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Chinese scientists from Sun Yat-sen University, together with their colleagues in the United States, have found that the climate of the Northern Hemisphere is changing at an alarming rate. As it turned out, heat waves have become more intense and frequent in this part of the Earth over the past decade, which is leading to significant economic losses. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

The team of scientists found that since the late 1970s, the relationship between the natural phenomenon of El Niño/Southern Oscillation in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer circumglobal teleconnection has changed. El Niño and La Niña, which involve warming and cooling of the ocean surface, have a significant impact on climate change around the world.

Until the 1980s, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation indirectly influenced the Indian summer monsoon, but then the connection weakened, resulting in shifts in climate centers, increased heat waves, and droughts in these regions.

The scientists used reanalyses, including sea surface temperature, precipitation, wind, and geopotential height data, and conducted numerical experiments using the Community Earth System model.

They found that the Rossby waves that form the circumglobal telecommunications network have shifted by half a wavelength since the late 1970s. This shift is not due to anthropogenic influences, but to natural climate variability.

The study also found that the sea surface temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean has shifted westward, affecting the tropical westerlies and atmospheric circulation. This, in turn, caused the mixing of climate centers and increased extreme weather events in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

The scientists believe their work will help improve seasonal forecasts of El Nino/Southern Oscillation-related heat waves and droughts, as well as improve the accuracy of models that predict future climate change. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”