Climate Change Is Turning the Heat Up Higher at Night Time

(Bloomberg) -- Nights are warming at a faster rate than daytime temperatures across vast swathes of the globe, potentially impacting weather patterns and making it more difficult for life to adapt to climate change.

Those are the conclusions published Thursday by scientists in the journal Global Change Biology. Asymmetry in warming between night and day carries consequences for plant and wildlife, with potential to change how energy is consumed in markets.

“Species that are only active at night or during the day will be particularly affected,” said lead author Daniel Cox, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter.

More than half the Earth’s surface experienced nights warming an average of more than 0.25 degrees Celsius (0.45 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than daytime temperatures over the last three decades.

The areas most impacted by hotter evenings show higher rates of cloud cover, humidity and precipitation. Fewer clouds and drought characterized patterns in places where daytime temperatures exceeded those at night.

“Hotter nights erode the ability of the nighttime to act as a ‘thermal refuge’ where organisms can recover from daytime heat stress,” the report said.

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