EXPLAINER
The world has confronted its twelfth straight month of historic warmth, with this summer season on observe to be among the many hottest but.
Whereas summer season has solely simply begun within the Northern Hemisphere, heatwaves have already gripped many elements of the world together with throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
Excessive warmth has led to greater than a thousand deaths, pressing well being warnings and faculty closures.
July is traditionally the most popular month of the 12 months, the place in elements of the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures often exceed 40C (104F).
In keeping with the UN’s World Meteorological Group (WMO), July 2023 was the warmest month ever recorded, possible the most popular for a minimum of the previous 120,000 years, with this 12 months already on track to be one of many hottest but.
Axial tilt and the summer season solstice
The Earth is tilted 23.5 levels on its axis because it orbits the solar.
This ends in various quantities of daylight at completely different occasions of the 12 months, which creates the altering seasons.
Astronomical summer season begins on the summer season solstice, which is round June 20 or 21 within the Northern Hemisphere and round December 21 or 22 within the Southern Hemisphere.
That is the day when the solar reaches its highest level within the sky at midday, resulting in the longest day and shortest night time of the 12 months.
The a part of the Earth that receives essentially the most quantity of direct daylight is 23.5 levels above the equator, which is called the Tropic of Most cancers.
This line passes by Mexico, the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India amongst different nations, contributing to highly regarded summers.
Summer season within the Northern Hemisphere
Whereas half of the Earth’s land mass experiences summer season from June to September, roughly 90 p.c of the world’s inhabitants lives within the Northern Hemisphere, the place these months coincide with extra direct daylight and longer daytime.
In northernmost cities across the Arctic Circle, the solar doesn’t set between late Could and late July in a phenomenon often known as the midnight solar.
Conversely, throughout the winter months, these identical places expertise a polar night time, the place the solar stays beneath the horizon between late November and late January.
Why is the afternoon hotter than midday?
In the course of the summer season months, extra of the solar’s power is absorbed into the bottom, which heats up the encircling air and results in hotter temperatures.
The time delay between the heating and releasing is called seasonal lag.
The Earth’s floor, particularly giant our bodies of water like oceans, which comprise 70 p.c of the Earth’s floor, takes time to soak up warmth from the solar and subsequently launch it.
This explains why the height temperature of the day happens within the afternoon, not at noon, and why July, quite than June, usually experiences the best common temperatures.
The right way to keep cool this summer season
As summer season temperatures soar in varied areas throughout the globe, with some even shattering all-time heatwave information, staying cool turns into essential. Luckily, there are efficient strategies to beat the warmth, whether or not you may have entry to air con or not.
Listed below are 10 suggestions to assist minimise the danger of warmth stroke:
