Why are heat domes forming more frequently and what causes them?

A heat dome is like a giant blanket that traps hot air over a place for days, and it's happening more often because our planet is getting warmer.

Imagine you're wearing a thick, fluffy sweater on a sunny day. The sun warms your body, but the sweater keeps all that heat in. That’s how a heat dome works! It's like a big, heavy lid made of air that sits over a region and stops cool air from coming in.

Our planet is getting warmer because we're putting out more carbon dioxide, think of it as extra smoke from a fire. This makes the atmosphere act like a thicker sweater, trapping even more heat.

When the air gets really hot and starts to move slowly, it creates a kind of high-pressure system, which is like a strong ceiling that keeps the hot air from escaping. That’s when we get those long, super-hot days, and sometimes, they feel like they never end!