The effects of climate change are being highlighted in the Mediterranean and five other regions – find out why temperatures are rising in these places

Climate change is raising temperatures around the globe. In some areas, local factors are causing conditions to change more strongly than elsewhere.

In most cases, climate change reduces rainfall, but the opposite can also happen. Somewhere the climate is changing so drastically that the region is becoming uninhabitable for humans.

Experts from the Finnish Meteorological Institute go through six regions on Earth where climate change is felt most strongly.

The Gulf region is somehow unique on Earth, says a researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute Mika Rantanen Ylelle. The temperature can rise to 50 degrees, but there are factors in the area that further amplify the effect of the heat.

– During the summer, the sun shines almost directly from above, and at the same time in the Gulf region there is a downturn.

Rantanen talks about a phenomenon known in meteorology as Hadley’s rotation. The air heated at the equator rises, and after cooling it descends to the 30th latitude, that is, just near the Gulf and the Sahara.

– The descending air causes little cloudiness in the area, and the sun is always shining from the clear sky. There is also no air-cooling afternoon drizzle.

In addition, sea areas such as the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea accumulate more heat than desert areas. When the sea heats up, moisture evaporates. At that time, weather conditions develop in coastal areas where the air is hot and humid at the same time. Scientists call this the wet temperature.

Humans cannot tolerate wet temperatures above 35 degrees for a few hours longer because sweating can no longer reduce body heat.

– Due to these factors, conditions on the Gulf Coast can be quite intolerable during the summer.

Climate change will raise temperatures and further reduce rainfall in the Gulf region as well. In recent years, there has been a debate about when the area will become uninhabitable.

The southwestern United States and northern Mexico have been suffering from intermittent droughts lasting decades at a time for millennia. Now, however, there is a period of drought going on, breaking records.

The exact cause of the droughts is not known. However, researchers were able to show that more than 40 percent of the factors behind the current drought are related to man-made climate change.

Mika Rantanen thinks that one of the factors currently exacerbating the drought is the La Niña weather phenomenon in the Pacific for the third year in a row. It is expected to end by the end of the year, when the situation could ease at least a little.

In the Mediterranean, rainfall in the winter season in particular is declining. According to Mika Rantanen, there is still uncertainty in the models, but the phenomenon is probably related to the same entity as in the Gulf region, ie the orbit of Hadley.

– According to climate models, Hadley’s cycle, which is now affecting the Sahara, will expand as the climate warms to the north and south, extending the Sahara’s climate to the Mediterranean.

It therefore appears that the low pressures that bring winter rains and storms into the Mediterranean would become less frequent, drying up the region. Sunny and warm high pressure weather would be more prevalent.

According to Rantanen, deforestation is a key factor in climate change in the Amazon rainforest area.

– When a forest is cut down, it also has an effect on the local weather type. As forests decline, the moisture that evaporates from the trees decreases, making the climate somewhat drier.

As the forest decreases, so does the rainfall, ie human activities have local effects on weather conditions, Rantanen estimates. Of course, there are regional differences in a large rainforest area.

Deforestation and the ensuing drying climate are transforming the Amazon from carbon sequestration into a source of emissions.

The northern zones are warming the most on the planet. In the Arctic, global warming is 2 to 3 times higher than elsewhere on average.

The warming of the Arctic is simplest to understand that as the snow cover decreases, the exposed soil as well as the water will absorb heat instead of being reflected from the white snow surface into space.

The essential factor in warming is therefore the deterioration of the reflectivity, which strengthens the warming cycle, says the research professor leading the atmospheric modeling research group at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Hannele Korhonen.

East Africa, from the Horn of Africa to the southern tip of the continent, continues to suffer from intense natural phenomena. According to Mika Rantanen, no single development of climate change seems to be affecting the region, but extreme weather events are intensifying.

Eastern Africa is characterized by severe periods of drought followed by heavy rains.

Even now, for example, three consecutive rainy seasons have failed in the Horn of Africa, and there are fears that rainfall in the fourth season will be scarce. The possible abandonment of the la Niña meteorological phenomenon in Africa at the end of the year can bring hope.

Although it rains a lot at times, especially in southern Africa, the problem is flooding. Dried soil is not able to absorb water, causing flooding. As they go, they take away the grain sown in the topsoil and possibly the fields.

– Although changes in rainfall or temperatures may be large in some areas, it does not yet tell us everything. It is also important how the population and ecosystem of the area are accustomed to the variation, reminds Hannele Korhonen.

In Finland, for example, the variation between years can be large, but elsewhere it is accustomed to a very even climate, in which case even a small change can have a large effect.

According to Korhonen, what matters is whether society can help residents when change comes. In rich countries this succeeds, but in poor countries there will be problems.

What thoughts did the story provoke? You can discuss the topic on June 17th. until 11 p.m.