Wang et al. (2025) Energy‐Consumption‐Induced Anthropogenic Heat Release Intensifies Heatwaves and Wildfire Threats in North America: A CESM2‐Based Projection for the Late 21st Century

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-06
• Authors: R. J. Wang, Xue Wu, Bing Chen, Guo Lin, Chenglai Wu, Tao Luo, Guangyu Shi, Xiaohong Liu
• DOI: 10.1029/2025jd044290

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of anthropogenic heat release (AHR) on summer extreme heat events in North America during 2081–2100 under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, revealing that AHR significantly warms surface temperatures, increases extreme heat event frequency, alters radiative fluxes, modifies atmospheric circulation, and exacerbates moisture stress and wildfire risk.

Objective

• To examine the effects of anthropogenic heat release (AHR) on summer extreme heat events in North America (NA) during 2081–2100, focusing on the SSP5-8.5 scenario.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: North America
• Temporal Scale: 2081–2100 (future summer extreme heat events)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Community Earth System Model 2 (CESM2)
• Data sources: Model simulations

Main Results

• AHR contributes to a warming of 0.60 °C in mean summer surface temperatures.
• Daily maximum temperatures increase by 0.61 °C, and daily minimum temperatures increase by 0.59 °C.
• Extreme high temperatures become more frequent, with a 0.2-day expansion in compound day-night heatwave days per summer.
• AHR affects the surface net shortwave radiative flux by influencing lower tropospheric stability and low cloud cover.
• AHR leads to an increase of more than 2 W m⁻² in the surface downward longwave radiative flux.
• AHR modifies large-scale atmospheric circulation and moisture transport, intensifying anticyclonic circulation over the western continent.
• AHR amplifies mid-latitude warming and drying.
• The annual mean vapor pressure deficit in North America is projected to increase, exacerbating moisture stress on vegetation and increasing wildfire risk.

Contributions

• Provides significant scientific implications for understanding climate change and extreme weather events in North America by highlighting AHR as a critical, often overlooked, aspect of anthropogenic influences on future climate conditions and extreme events under global warming.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Wang2025EnergyConsumptionInduced,
  author = {Wang, R. J. and Wu, Xue and Chen, Bing and Lin, Guo and Wu, Chenglai and Luo, Tao and Shi, Guangyu and Liu, Xiaohong},
  title = {Energy‐Consumption‐Induced Anthropogenic Heat Release Intensifies Heatwaves and Wildfire Threats in North America: A CESM2‐Based Projection for the Late 21st Century},
  journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025jd044290},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jd044290}
}