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Heat Waves Now Defined: Meet the 'Heat Storm'
20 Oct
Summary
- A new 'heat storm' category defines heat waves covering 1% of the planet.
- Heat waves are defined as five consecutive days with temperatures in the hottest 10%.
- Reuters developed a universal definition for heat waves with climate scientists.
Climate scientists and data journalists have developed a universal definition for heat waves, a crucial step in understanding global warming's impact. This new framework defines a heat wave as five consecutive days where daily high temperatures consistently reach the 90th percentile of historical averages for that specific date and location.
Further categorizing extreme events, a 'heat storm' is now defined as a heat wave covering at least 1% of the Earth's surface. This distinction aims to highlight the immense scale and consequences of these widespread temperature anomalies. The methodology, developed by Reuters in consultation with two dozen researchers, analyzes global temperature data from 1961 to the present.
The newly established definitions and tracking system are open-sourced on GitHub, allowing for broader research and consistent analysis of extreme heat events worldwide. This initiative seeks to bridge the gap between scientific discourse on climate change and public understanding of its tangible effects.
