Scorching summers: 30°C Heat - What was life like back then?
Intense Heat Waves: Delving into Past Climates - Experiencing a temperature of 30 degrees: Delving into the past to understand the conditions.
Let's dive into the scorching summers of today and take a trip down memory lane to understand how those sizzling 30°C days were perceived in the past, specifically in the 1970s and 1980s.
Some folks believe that temperatures above 30°C were as normal as a brewing cup of coffee back in the good old days. They argue that such temperatures occurred frequently during summer, spanning from May to September. However, our memories can deceive us. It could be that memorable events have a knack for sticking around in our minds for too long.
So, what about the 'heat days' of the 70s and 80s?
The German Weather Service (DWD) defines a 'heat day' or 'hot day' as when the maximum air temperature surpasses 30°C. Interestingly, according to their weather data, most summers in the 1970s and 1980s had only a handful of heat days across Germany. To be more precise, the summers of 1970 (2.0), 1977 (1.3), 1980 (1.5), and 1987 (1.6) were particularly spared of heat days.
However, it takes more than a season to establish a trend. The DWD holds data for over a half-century.
What does the general trend look like?
It turns out that there was an average of 8.9 heat days per summer in Germany between 1991 and 2020. Interestingly, during the period of 1961 to 1990, the average was significantly lower, only 4.2 hot days on average per year.
To illustrate the impact of this increase, consider the frequency of summers experiencing over ten heat days. Before the turn of the millennium, this happened only three times: the summers of 1976 (10.2), 1994 (16.3), and 1995 (10.5). On the other hand, the lowest count was in 1956 with only 0.6 hot days across Germany.
For comparison, since the millennium's dawn, there have already been eleven summers with more than ten heat days, most of them in recent years. The record is 2018 with 20.4 hot days, and 2024 had 12.5. Thus, in the long run, the number of hot days in Germany is on the rise.
Now, let's compare this trend with the climate data of the 1970s and 1980s and more recent decades. Generally speaking, the global temperatures during the 1970s and 1980s were cooler compared to the present day, mainly due to natural climate variability and volcanic eruptions temporarily cooling the planet. However, the overall trend was an increase in temperature as the global average temperature began to rise due to greenhouse gas emissions.
Interestingly, while heat wave data specific to Germany for these decades might be limited, European heat waves were less frequent and intense during the 70s and 80s compared to the 2000s and beyond.
On the flip side, the 1990s through the present have witnessed a significant increase in average global temperatures, accompanied by more frequent and intense heat waves. Europe has experienced more severe heat waves, such as the 2003, 2010, and 2019 events, which have been tied to climate change.
In essence, while exact heat day data for Germany during the 1970s and 1980s might not be available in abundance, the overall trend shows a increase in heat days from those years to the more recent ones, reflecting broader global climate changes.
- The rise in the number of heat days in Germany suggests a significant shift in environmental conditions compared to the 1970s and 1980s, hinting at the influence of climate-change on weather patterns.
- To fully understand this trend, it's crucial to revisit the environmental science of the past, particularly focusing on the factors influencing the weather and climate-change, including the community policy regarding greenhouse gas emissions during the 1970s and 1980s.
