Is Climate Change Causing More Home Runs Every Year
Is climate change causing more home runs every year? Our Tampa Bay Rays are the best team in Major League baseball. Hav you noticed? If you are Major League Baseball, you may have noticed something else interesting over the last few years: more and more, and more home runs. According to a new study by Dartmouth College scientists, climate change is playing a role in this phenomenon.
No. Not Inside The Trop.
The study found that hotter, thinner air caused by global warming is allowing baseballs to fly farther, resulting in approximately 50 more home runs per year since 2010. The scientists analyzed more than 100,000 Major League games and over 200,000 balls put into play in recent years, along with various weather conditions and stadium factors.
It’s A Basic Principle Of Physics.
When air heats up, molecules move faster and farther away from each other, making the air less dense. Baseballs hit off a bat travel farther through the thinner air because there is less resistance to slow them down. This slight increase in distance can make all the difference between a flyout and a home run.
1 Degree= 1%
Alan Nathan, a University of Illinois physicist who has consulted with Major League Baseball on the increase in home runs, did his own calculation based on the known physics of ballistics and air density as it changes with temperature. He came up with the same result as the Dartmouth team: a 1% increase in the likelihood of a home run with each degree the air warms (1.8% with each degree Celsius). So, the next time you see a player hit a home run, you can thank not only their impressive skills but also the effects of climate change. TBT
