The content of this website is no longer being updated. For information on current assessment activities, please visit http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment
More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st Century
Title | More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st Century |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2004 |
Authors | Meehl, G. A., and C. Tebaldi |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 305 |
Issue | 5686 |
Pagination | 994-997 |
Date Published | AUG 13 2004 |
ISBN Number | 0036-8075 |
Keywords | 20TH-CENTURY, GLOBAL CLIMATE, impacts, model, WEATHER |
Abstract | A global coupled climate model shows that there is a distinct geographic pattern to future changes in heat waves. Model results for areas of Europe and North America, associated with the severe heat waves in Chicago in 1995 and Paris in 2003, show that future heat waves in these areas will become more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting in the second half of the 21st century. Observations and the model show that present-day heat waves over Europe and North America coincide with a specific atmospheric circulation pattern that is intensified by ongoing increases in greenhouse gases, indicating that it will produce more severe heat waves in those regions in the future. |
Reference number | 350 |
Short Title | More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st Century |
Citation Key | 350 |