The carbon dioxide that belches from tailpipes and smokestacks is a proven greenhouse gas that has been driving global temperatures more or less steadily upward over the past century. But the heat that leaks directly into the environment from hot exhaust pipes, boilers and chimneys has also contributed to temperature increases in some places, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Climate Change, especially in winter— not directly, but rather because the waste heat may be altering the flow of the jet stream, and thus the way warm and cold air move around the globe.
If the ridges and troughs are disrupted by heat rising from coastal cities, that could plausibly limit the amount of Arctic air that moves southward and tropical air that moves northward, affecting temperatures across the northern part of the hemisphere. It’s more of a rearrangement of heat than an overall increase, they say. While parts of the northern hemisphere are warmer in winter than they would otherwise be, parts — notably Northern Europe — end up cooler in summer and autumn.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/waste-heat-from-cities-may-be-altering-weather-patterns-says-new-study-15522
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