Earlier, i spoke to dr matt patterson, whos a Postdoctoral Research assistant in Atmospheric Physics at the University Of Oxford and has been following the winter heatwave. He said this is not a common occurance. Its really quite unusual to see a heatwave of this magnitude in the winter. As you said, weve seen temperatures of 38 degrees in some andes towns when we would expect to see temperatures of 10 15 degrees at this time of year. So really quite unprecedented. In terms of the magnitude, 20 degrees more than average, thats comparable with Summer Heatwaves that weve seen in the southern United States, Southern Europe and china this year. Can you explain in basic terms what exactly is causing this heatwave in winter . Certainly. Its a High Pressure system just to the east of the andes, which is basically dragging warm air down from the tropics and bringing that heat down towards chile and argentina. That High Pressure is also compressing the air, much like when you pump up a bike tyr
and bringing that heat down towards chile and argentina. that high pressure is also compressing the air, much like when you pump up a bike tyre, the pump heats up, and there s been a lack of cloud cover, and that means the sun is able to beat down and really warm up the land surface throughout the day. let s bring back our panel. the fact we have seen bruising heatwaves, whether across the us, flooding in vermont. philip, we will talk to you about europe as well. in the us, do you have a sense that the extreme weather we have experienced is moving the needle at all? the conversation when discussing climate change?