Under the Dome of Heat and History (Updated)

Under the Capitol Dome, the willful ignorant engage in political congress over nothing but their sad ambition.  Under the Washington dome of air traffic protection, top administrators look for the deal that makes them feel rich, and they never really do.  While their professional underlings sweat for the good of the country.  They are the air conditioned nightmare.

And now, under the heat dome that is expanding to eventually cover the contiguous United States, people and their infrastructure as well as all of life suffer.  The Washington Post:

"Since the past weekend, the first intense heat wave has kept a tight, sweaty grip on the eastern United States. As of Tuesday morning, about 80 million Americans were under some type of heat advisory. Forty-four of the 50 states expected to reach at least 90 degrees Tuesday afternoon. Expect both of those statistics to grow through the end of this week, as the brutal heat wave intensifies and expands to include the western part of the country.

On Monday, Washington, Philadelphia and New York all reported heat indexes — or “feels like” temperatures — in excess of 100 degrees. Record-warm overnight low temperatures were set in Albany and Burlington, Vt....

The Midwest has been roasting since the end of last week. Heat indexes this past weekend in Chicago were regularly in the 105-to-115-degree range. The excessive heat caused at least one road to buckle in Wisconsin, according to a contributor on Reddit’s r/weather forum. And a bridge was deformed because of the heat in Chicago, according to WREX...."

And it will continue and spread through the week:

"High pressure domes like this tend to dominate the atmospheric landscape, shunting the jet stream far to the north and keeping everything under them locked in a pattern of hot and humid weather.

Not only is the current upper-level high going to stick around, but also it’s going to become stronger and larger over the next several days. Over the weekend, the same ridge of high pressure that has been dominating the weather over the East will expand west. Forecast models expect the dome of high pressure will eventually encompass almost the entire Lower 48.

The extent of this heat wave over the weekend not only will be uncommon, but also the high pressure is going to be intense. So intense, in fact, it may lack historical precedent."

We used to call these "heat waves" but their length and intensity is turning them into slow motion Katrinas in terms of present suffering and long term consequences.  Everything about them was predicted in global heating models, in longitudinal studies, in the gathering of other historical data such as through the study of ancient ice.

So no surprise, only denial.

Those in command under the domes of decision,  you deserve to roast.  The rest of you under this heat dome this week, don't take it lightly: drink lots of water, stay out of the sun, stay as cool as you can.

Update: It's not just US. The Post follows up Wednesday with a global view:

From the normally mild summer climes of Ireland, Scotland and Canada to the scorching Middle East, numerous locations in the Northern Hemisphere have witnessed their hottest weather ever recorded over the past week.

Large areas of heat pressure or heat domes scattered around the hemisphere led to the sweltering temperatures.

No single record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming. But collectively, these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see increase in a warming world."