#ClimateDiary Thinking about the word #Heatwave.
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#ClimateDiary Thinking about the word #Heatwave. Is it helpful? Yes, of course, it captures that it is unusually hot. And when people talk about this year’s heatwave many do bring in climate change. But the word itself makes jt sound like something natural that just happens, like a wave, just washes over us. Not sure it’s that helpful.
yeah... we have a whole repertoire of words concealing the real causes, connections and culprits.
Reminds me of the NoNaturalDisasters campaign https://www.nonaturaldisasters.com/
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yeah... we have a whole repertoire of words concealing the real causes, connections and culprits.
Reminds me of the NoNaturalDisasters campaign https://www.nonaturaldisasters.com/
@MurmeltHier @pvonhellermannn Thinking on these topics is what got me interested in George Lakoff's work in metaphors and neurolinguistics.
The way we talk about things matters. Sometimes it feels too small to matter, but truth deserves its chance in our words.
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#ClimateDiary Thinking about the word #Heatwave. Is it helpful? Yes, of course, it captures that it is unusually hot. And when people talk about this year’s heatwave many do bring in climate change. But the word itself makes jt sound like something natural that just happens, like a wave, just washes over us. Not sure it’s that helpful.
Heattsunami? Not really much better I guess.
The whole nautical/water aspect is perhaps not so useful...
In Denmark, the definition is apparently 3 consecutive days with temperature above 28 °C
This seems to not be consistent throughout Europe though.
https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedeb%C3%B8lge
So, even when discussing if the word heatwave is appropriate, we don't even seem to have a firm consensus of what heatwave means, leaving room for a shifting definition across decades.
Difficult!
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Heattsunami? Not really much better I guess.
The whole nautical/water aspect is perhaps not so useful...
In Denmark, the definition is apparently 3 consecutive days with temperature above 28 °C
This seems to not be consistent throughout Europe though.
https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedeb%C3%B8lge
So, even when discussing if the word heatwave is appropriate, we don't even seem to have a firm consensus of what heatwave means, leaving room for a shifting definition across decades.
Difficult!
@folfdk @pvonhellermannn and although the Wikipedia article cited divides the UK between North and South its not that simple: there are actually 4 zones (25C, 26C, 27C and 28C) and here in the far South West we are in the zone with the lowest heatwave threshold. - it's really South East vs. the rest. Apparently Londoners are used to being baked.
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/temperature/heatwave
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@MurmeltHier @pvonhellermannn Thinking on these topics is what got me interested in George Lakoff's work in metaphors and neurolinguistics.
The way we talk about things matters. Sometimes it feels too small to matter, but truth deserves its chance in our words.
@kzodasnowman
Thank you very much mentioning him! Haven't looked in professional takes on this yet (but discussed those things for years on social media) and his works seem to be a really good start.Seems I have to go to my library soon
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@folfdk @pvonhellermannn and although the Wikipedia article cited divides the UK between North and South its not that simple: there are actually 4 zones (25C, 26C, 27C and 28C) and here in the far South West we are in the zone with the lowest heatwave threshold. - it's really South East vs. the rest. Apparently Londoners are used to being baked.
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/temperature/heatwave
@marjolica @folfdk @pvonhellermannn Perhaps we should be calling them #HeatStorms
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@folfdk @pvonhellermannn and although the Wikipedia article cited divides the UK between North and South its not that simple: there are actually 4 zones (25C, 26C, 27C and 28C) and here in the far South West we are in the zone with the lowest heatwave threshold. - it's really South East vs. the rest. Apparently Londoners are used to being baked.
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/temperature/heatwave
@marjolica
That's interesting, thanks!I clicked through to the 2022 threshold update, with a very nice and detailed description of the updates regarding which temperature is used in the counties.
So even the heatwave definition is being changed, so historical records will sound worse than they are, if one doesn't take that into account.
Especially the attached graphic from that article (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2022/heatwave-threshold-changes) is really quite informative.
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@marjolica @folfdk @pvonhellermannn Perhaps we should be calling them #HeatStorms
@drs1969 @marjolica @folfdk @pvonhellermannn
I kinda like that term. #HeatStorm
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@marjolica
That's interesting, thanks!I clicked through to the 2022 threshold update, with a very nice and detailed description of the updates regarding which temperature is used in the counties.
So even the heatwave definition is being changed, so historical records will sound worse than they are, if one doesn't take that into account.
Especially the attached graphic from that article (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2022/heatwave-threshold-changes) is really quite informative.
@folfdk @pvonhellermannn what ths doesn't mention is humidity. Where we are (South West UK, coastal) the humidity is typically 80%+ overnight, albeit we get more wind.
I don't know if this is factored into the UK Met Office classifications, I think they are just using a simply a deviation from historical "norms" not the degree to which the temperature affects human bodies. -
@folfdk @pvonhellermannn what ths doesn't mention is humidity. Where we are (South West UK, coastal) the humidity is typically 80%+ overnight, albeit we get more wind.
I don't know if this is factored into the UK Met Office classifications, I think they are just using a simply a deviation from historical "norms" not the degree to which the temperature affects human bodies.@marjolica
That's a good point!
And I agree with your conclusion about the classification.Cc
