‘Climate whiplash’ is not simply a buzzword, but a symptom of a warming planet
This term describes dramatic swings between different kinds of extreme weather.
The term “whiplash” often evokes images of sudden jolts, like a head jerking back and forth in a car accident. Climate scientists have borrowed this concept to describe extreme weather swings, using terms like “weather whiplash” and “climate whiplash.” As the planet continues to heat up, these abrupt weather changes are set to become more frequent and severe, according to recent research.
Weather whiplash refers to sudden shifts in weather on a daily to weekly scale, such as a heatwave followed by a downpour or freezing temperatures within a single day. Climate whiplash, meanwhile, describes more prolonged shifts on a monthly to annual timescale, like the UK's recent shift from heavy rain to drought. Researchers are particularly concerned about "compound disasters," which involve multiple extreme weather events happening simultaneously or in quick succession, making the impacts much worse than any single event.
The increasing frequency and intensity of whiplash events are driven by a warming planet. Climate extremes are becoming more dramatic – heatwaves are hotter, rainfall is heavier, and droughts are drier. This is partly because the polar regions are warming faster than the rest of the globe, disrupting the temperature differences that drive large-scale weather patterns.
The jet stream, responsible for steering weather systems, is also weakening as it encounters warmer polar air. As greenhouse gas emissions persist, scientists predict these whiplash-like weather patterns will only worsen, posing significant challenges for communities, ecosystems, and emergency services.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
