ANDExtreme heat in Mexico, Central America and parts of the US South has left millions of people in sweltering temperatures, overwhelmed power grids and resulted in Iconic howler monkeys in Mexico dying of the trees.
Meteorologists say the conditions were caused by what some call a heat dome — an area of strong high pressure centered over the southern Gulf of Mexico and northern Central America that blocked cloud formation and caused lots of sunlight and warm temperatures. . This extreme heat is occurring in a world that is warming rapidly due to greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.
High temperatures are spreading across the Gulf of Mexico and reaching parts of the United States, including Texas and Florida. The heat comes as thousands of people in Texas remain without power after storms hit parts of the state last week.
Shawn Bhatti, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s forecast office in Miami, said southerly winds from the tropics carried warm, moist air northward from the equator, which contributed to the unseasonably warm conditions.
South Florida is hotter than normal. Miami International Airport recorded a daily high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.6 degrees Celsius) on May 19. This surpassed the 86 to 88 degree temperatures (about 30 degrees Celsius) that Miami typically sees this time of year.
A heat advisory issued by the NWS was in effect for parts of Texas on Thursday. Temperatures along the Rio Grande were expected to rise to 111 degrees Fahrenheit (43.9 degrees Celsius) and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) in the Davis and Chinati mountains.
Experts say the heat event raises concerns about ocean water temperatures and their influence on the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season.
The region is transitioning from an El Niño, where tropical cyclone activity in the Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic is typically reduced, to a La Niña pattern, in which the probability of tropical cyclone activity increases, said Andrew Kruczkiewicz, senior researcher at the Columbia Climate School at Columbia University.
Kruczkiewicz said extreme heat adds another ingredient to the risk of tropical cyclone activity this season, as these storms are fueled by warm ocean temperatures.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that there is an 85 percent chance that the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1, will be above average storm activity.
Mexico’s brutal heat wave has been linked to the deaths of more than two dozen people since March. But the worst is expected at the end of this week and beginning of next.
Mónica Eréndira Jiménez of the Mexican Meteorological Service said the current heat wave will be one of the longest and most worrying of 2024 because it is affecting the vast majority of the country. In May, more than 46 locations experienced record temperatures.
The situation is especially serious in places like Mexico City, which on May 9 recorded a record high of nearly 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.3 degrees Celsius) and is expected to reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) in the coming days. In the capital, heat combines with pollution, meaning ozone concentrations are expected to increase, warned the climate change program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The impacts on wildlife shocked scientists, who reported more than 130 howler monkey deaths in southeastern jungles and higher bird mortality in the northern part of the country, likely due to heat and other factors.
With below average precipitation in almost the entire country this year, lakes and dams are drying up It is the water supply is running out.
Protests multiplied. A group of police officers blocked six lanes of traffic on Wednesday on a main avenue in Mexico City, claiming that their barracks had been without water for a week and that the bathrooms were unusable.
Authorities had to transport water to hospitals and firefighting teams.
Low levels at hydroelectric dams have contributed to power outages in parts of the country, and this week the country’s largest convenience store chain – OXXO – said it was limiting ice purchases to two or three bags per customer in some locations. .
The Mexican Meteorological Service predicts another heat wave for June, but it is expected to be shorter and not as severe as this one.
Nearby countries, including Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Haiti, are also experiencing unusually warm temperatures due to this high pressure area.
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O’Malley reported from Philadelphia, Verza from Mexico City.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
