NASA tracks global summer conditions such as surface heat and fires. This summer’s heat waves broke records across the planet. Here’s a taste of what NASA was monitoring:
Hurricanes are affected by rising temperatures. In the Atlantic, five named storms formed between May 19 and July 9, with Hurricane Elsa becoming the earliest fifth-named storm on record for a single hurricane season.
More than 62,000 hectares (239 square miles) have burned in Algeria this year.
In one of the worst heat waves since the 1980s, more than 110,000 hectares (424 square miles) have burned in Greece this year.
The massive wildfires in the Republic of Sakha in eastern Russia this year have set a record for estimated carbon emissions for the period from June 1 to August 1.
As of August 6, 2021, the Dixie fire in California had charred more than 432,000 acres.
More than 136,000 hectares (525 square miles) have burned in Turkey this year, nearly three times the annual average.
At the opening of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, held this year in Japan, Tokyo was in the midst of a humid heat wave that pushed temperatures above 34°C (93°F) several days in a row.
On May 14, 2021, winter ice still covered most of Canada’s Lake Winnipeg. By May 19, temperatures hovered between 30°C and 33°C (86°F to 91°F), and the dry landscape was covered with smoke and fire.
Source: NASA
Information in this article was derived from NASA’s Earth Observatory: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/topic/heat
Commenti