Heat Waves And Wildfires on the Rise in the Arctic
Yes, you heard that right. The coldest regions in the world are experiencing a heatwave and wildfires this year. Temperatures in the Arctic have reached 95°F. One direct result of this is that the ice in the ocean is melting.
The entire Arctic Circle is experiencing extremely hot weather, even towns that have never seen such heat and are the coldest in the region. Many cities and places all over Russia are experiencing this increase in temperature.
It is not just Russia, even Scandinavia, and Northern Canada are experiencing heat this year. So, what does this say about the future of the world, and why are these changes happening?
Why The Temperature Is Getting Hotter
Firstly, let’s understand how a heat wave works. At first, the pressure in the atmosphere keeps increasing in a specific area. This pressure forces the clouds to move away from the area and so direct sunlight hits the ground.
The ground then consistently starts absorbing direct sunlight and because of less wind and constant heat, the temperature starts increasing. A good analogy of this is the heat within the oven when something is baking.
The heat is trapped with nothing going in and nothing coming out. The same way heat on the ground gets trapped and this causes a heatwave. Places near the Arctic such as Russia are experiencing this now because these places have long sunlight hours in the summer.
The sunlight is there even at night-time and so there is constant heat. This year it turned into a heatwave and wildfires because there was very little snow. The winter was not that cold this year, with a touch of warmth in the air and so all the snow quickly melted away once summer came.
This lack of snow and constant sunlight has caused a heatwave this year and wildfires all across. Wildfires are not unusual in Siberia but a cause for concern as they are a result of climate change.
Impact On Climate Change
These fires are expanding and spreading every year in Siberia. The top reason for this is climate change. We all know the effects of global warming with temperatures increasing every year and this is exactly what has happened here.
However, one thing to note here is that the rate of climate change is different in every part of the Earth. The Arctic is experiencing double the rate than any other place on Earth.
This is why the people and places that will be first affected by climate change are near the Arctic. These countries foreshadow what will soon happen to the rest of the world.
These are grave consequences and one that will impact the whole world extremely negatively. These events are likely to become more normal in the future and that shouldn’t be the case. This is why all of us collectively should do our part in slowing down climate change so wildfires and heat waves don’t happen and ruin the land.
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