Thread by @50ShadesofVan

CURRENT HEAT WAVE & CLIMATE CHANGE 101

Climate change has its fingerprints all over this unprecedented heat event. The extremes of the atmosphere are being re-written before our very eyes this weekend and beyond. (1/7)

Climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heat waves. An easy way to think about it is that the temperatures in this current heatwave are a couple of degrees higher because of anthropogenic climate change. (2/7)

You look at the weather charts, and the cause is simple - a massive upper ridge in the jet stream has built to an unprecedented level. The jet stream is doing its thing, acting like a giant skipping rope rounding the planet, attempting to re-balance heat. (3/7)

Weather balloons launched through next week will sample temperatures never recorded at heights several kilometres above the ground. B.C.'s usually temperate mountains will transform into a different climate, as temperatures tip over 30°C in the alpine. (4/7)

The unlikely chain of events has come together. Maximum sunlight around the solstice, a lack of forest fire smoke (for now), offshore flow with a thermal low - further warming the air as it compresses on the descent from the mountains. (5/7)

Consequently, these antecedent conditions will give us new all-time temperature records at the surface. Without it, the heat wave would not have the same impact across the Pacific Northwest. (6/7)

To get extreme weather, all actors have to line up just right and perform their roles with perfect timing on the weather stage - unfortunately, this will be an exceptional, albeit dangerous performance boosted by climate change. (7/7)