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A cold wave is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in temperature within a 24-hour period requiring substantially increased protection for agriculture, industry, commerce, and social activities. The precise criterion for a ...
A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions. [1]: 1157 A drought can last for days, months or years. Drought often has large impacts on the ecosystems and agriculture of affected regions, and causes harm to the local economy.
Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, [6] and orographic rainfall. [7] Convective processes involve strong vertical motions that can cause the overturning of the atmosphere in that location within an hour and cause heavy precipitation, [8] while stratiform processes involve weaker upward motions and less intense precipitation over a longer duration. [9]
El Niño and La Niña affect the global climate and disrupt normal weather patterns, which as a result can lead to intense storms in some places and droughts in others. [6] [7] El Niño events cause short-term (approximately 1 year in length) spikes in global average surface temperature while La Niña events cause short term surface cooling. [8]
These include how much rain falls and how fast the rain evaporates again. Warming over land increases the severity and frequency of droughts around much of the world. [57] [58]: 1057 In some tropical and subtropical regions of the world, there will probably be less rain due to global warming. This will make them more prone to drought.
Temperatures above the historical average have exacerbated the drought. Despite some frosty mornings over the interior Northeast, the dryness of both the air and the ground has led to warm afternoons.
This is because climate change increases droughts and heat waves that eventually inhibit plant growth on land, and soils will release more carbon from dead plants when they are warmer. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] The rate at which oceans absorb atmospheric carbon will be lowered as they become more acidic and experience changes in thermohaline circulation ...
The excess water vapour also gets caught up in storms. This makes them more intense, larger, and potentially longer-lasting. This in turn causes rain and snow events to become stronger and leads to increased risk of flooding. Extra drying worsens natural dry spells and droughts. This increases risk of heat waves and wildfires. [33]