Tuesday 4 June 2024

Heat dome kills people and animals in Mexico and central America.


Heat dome is a killer

Heat domes occur when a high pressure area stays parked over a region, trapping in hot air and preventing precipitation. In the second half of May, a heat dome parked itself over Mexico, Central America and areas of Texas and Florida. The result was baking heat with record high temperatures. The brutal heat hit Mexico especially hard, with nearly 50 people dying of heat stroke and monkeys dropping dead out of trees. The Associated Press reported that an animal park in northern Mexico lost at least 100 parrots, bats and other animals from dehydration. Birds die of dehydration in high temps because they can’t store water. Setting out bowls of water for them could help.

In the U.S., Key West, Florida, tied its highest-ever heat index of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 C) on May 15. Miami had a heat index of 112 F (44 C) on two consecutive days, May 18 and 19. This broke the daily records by more than 11 degrees Fahrenheit. On May 27, Hobby Airport in Houston set a record high temperature of 98 degrees F (37 C). In fact, seven of the 20 hottest days on record in May for Hobby Airport were from this year.

In Central America, Belize had its second hottest temperature ever on record when Chaa Creek hit 108.1 degrees F (42.3 C) on May 17. Other Central American countries are also experiencing record high days.

read more from source - https://earthsky.org/earth/heat-dome-mexico-central-america-us-may-2024/


 

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