It’s getting hot out there. Hot enough that even the Sun setting isn’t quite enough to get that pesky heat index down very far. In fact, just a few days ago, Death Valley may have set an all-time heat record for hottest midnight ever. Between 12 am and 1 am on July 17, the Badwater basin weather station clocked a temperature of 120°F.
120°F. At midnight.
It’s yet another wild effect of the heatwave currently broiling much of the south and southwestern U.S. According to IFLScience, this month has seen the repeated breaking of the record for the hottest day, and has included the setting of a new record for the hottest week.
The incredibly hot temperature has not, however, broken the record for hottest night—amazingly enough. That remains held by Khasab Airport in Oman remained above 111.6°F for the entire night.
Nonetheless, it’s still an impressive—if not worrying—statistic. But before we get ahead of ourselves, it hasn’t quite been confirmed yet. These claims of record-breaking heat are based on preliminary readings that will soon be subject to further analysis.
However, experts are pretty sure the record will stand. Meteorologist Jeff Masters told New Scientist that he expects the record will remain on further inspection. That being said, it’s also important to remember that statistics on maximum nighttime temperature simply aren’t kept, and hourly temperature data has only been kept for about a decade or so. The record may still stand, but it also may not have much to be compared to.
But whether or not the record stands, one thing is unequivocal—it. is. hot. And it seems to be getting hotter and hotter, all while relief is becoming harder and harder to find in some regions. This lack of relief in particular can be dangerous for people, as never being able to escape intense heat can have serious effects on health, such as dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, experts are linking this growing global heat to the climate crisis currently affecting our Earth. “Climate change and temperature increase has spurred a surge in reports of record weather and climate extremes, especially for heat,” Randall Cerveny, a professor of geographical sciences at Arizona State University, said in a statement to New Scientist. “We have to make sure that these records are verified for the sake of scientific understanding and accuracy.”
So, out the researchers go to verify temperature readings and make new ones. Considering the pattern we’re currently seeing, if any of those readings constitute a new world record, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see that record broken again before long.
From: Popular Mechanics
Jackie AppelAssociate News Editor
Jackie is a writer and editor from Pennsylvania. She’s especially fond of writing about space and physics, and loves sharing the weird wonders of the universe with anyone who wants to listen. She is supervised in her home office by her two cats.
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