Climate change could lead to increase in dangerous firestorms that were once ‘rare’

Scientists fear climate change will cause a once "rare and unique" weather event to become more common, as they race to develop predictive modelling and tools to help them better understand pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCB), commonly referred to as firestorms.

Lightning from a pyroCB storm breaks
through while bushfires rage nearby.

Jason Sharples, a professor of bushfire dynamics at the University of NSW, records the frequency of these storms around Australia and said between 1998, when relevant records started, and 2018, there were 62 confirmed pyroCBs.

But this bushfire season has seen that figure jump.

Read the story from The Age by Laura Chung and Nick Moir - “Climate change could lead to increase in dangerous firestorms that were once ‘rare’."

Humanity has entered a global warming minefield, climate scientists say

This year’s deadly hurricanes, record-shattering firestorms and severe drought are linked to global warming, and the prospect of more unpleasant surprises seems likely, climate experts warn.

Three hurricanes at once — Irma, Katia and Jose
 — seen from a satellite in early September.

“What we're seeing is the veritable tip of the iceberg,” says Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth Systems Science Center at Penn State University.

“If we continue on the path that we're on,” he says, “there's no reason not to expect that we will see even more intense hurricanes and more extreme weather events of the sort we're already starting to see — unprecedented flooding events [and] unprecedented heat waves, droughts and wildfire."

Just in the last few years, Mann points out, researchers have measured record global ocean temperatures, which have led to the strongest hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere, Hurricane Patricia; the strongest hurricane in the Southern Hemisphere, Hurricane Winston; and the strongest storm ever recorded in the open Atlantic, Hurricane Irma.

Read the PRI story by Adam Wernick - “Humanity has entered a global warming minefield, climate scientists say.”