Displaying items by tag: climate change heat
Slowing the burn: Nine ET counties collaborate on climate plan
Hurricane Helene was fueled by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico before it began its deadly and destructive push into East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Scientists said global climate change made the storm considerably worse than it would have been in natural conditions. East Tennessee leaders announced a regional climate plan focused on reducing local contributions to climate change. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Plan suggests actions on public and private levels to slow warming climate
KNOXVILLE — Area leaders unveiled a plan to improve air quality, health and quality of life across the metro region.
Breathe: A Climate Action Plan for the Knoxville Region, released Nov. 12, is the result of a two-year collaboration, and is the region’s first comprehensive climate action plan.
The city collaborated with regional leaders and a working group of representatives from over 50 organizations across nine counties to help shape the plan’s goals and strategies, ensuring they reflect the region’s priorities and constraints.
The plan was funded through the U.S. EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, which the city of Knoxville was awarded in 2023.
Individuals can make personal climate pledges and find resources to help achieve them on the project website. The plan and all related materials, pledge, and list of resources can be found at www.knoxbreathe.org.
Welcome to the Heat Dome
An area of high pressure lingered in the upper atmosphere over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast in June 2024. This pushed warm air toward the surface and trapped it there—a weather phenomenon meteorologists call a heat dome. The heat wave reached the Southern Appalachians, as seen in this model generated from NASA Earth Observatory data. NASA
How climate change is heating up the weather, and what we can do about it
This article was originally published by The Conversation.
The heat wave that left more than 100 million people sweating across the eastern U.S. in June 2024 hit so fast and was so extreme that forecasters warned a flash drought could follow across wide parts of the region.
Prolonged high temperatures can quickly dry soils, triggering a rapid onset drought that can affect agriculture, water resources and energy supplies. Many regions under the June heat dome quickly developed abnormally dry conditions.
(The average temperature of June was about 7 degrees above normal in Knoxville as reported by Weather Underground).
The human impacts of the heat wave have also been widespread. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses surged. Several Massachusetts schools without air conditioning closed to protect kids and teachers. In New York and New Jersey, electric wires sagged in the heat, shutting down trains into and out of New York City and leaving commuters stranded.
- flash drought
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- heat and public health
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- science of heat
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- jeffrey basara
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