For hundreds of years, Pacific Northwest residents have been accustomed to rainy days and snow during the spring and summer seasons. But this year, the lasting effects of climate change were made evident when the region experienced its hottest summer on record, thanks to a blistering heatwave.
This sizzling weather was so far away from the norm that it caused tree rings to record temperatures not seen in roughly 1,000 years. Scientists were able to examine these unique tree rings and obtain an unprecedented look at the history of the region’s climate.
Tree rings are a type of environmental proxy data and they represent the width of an annual tree row created in response to weather conditions. These can provide useful climate information going back hundreds and even thousands of years. Using this measure for the 2021 heatwave, researchers found that the duration and intensity of the heatwave was beyond unusual and surpassed anything seen in the last millennium.
The findings solidify the trend toward warmer climates in the Pacific Northwest region and the subsequent importance of recognizing and understanding climate change. As the consequences of the climate crisis become more tangible and extreme weather events become more frequent, its importance to take these findings into account when building resilience plans for future climates.
The 2021 Pacific Northwest heatwave was certainly one for the history books and tree rings from 1,000 years ago help to prove just how severe this weather phenomenon was.
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