Killer Heat' Days to Surge Without Climate Action
Bloomberg Environment
Updated July 16, 2019, 4:40 PM
By Abby Smith
Nation’s hottest days could increase fourfold with no action to cut greenhouse gases, report says
Cities already taking action to reduce urban heat, but link to climate change not always clear
The July 16 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Killer Heat in the United States: The Future of Dangerously Hot Days,” projects large and widespread spikes in high-heat days across the U.S. as climate change worsens.
If the U.S. takes little or no action to cut climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions, the country’s hottest weather could see up to a fourfold increase by mid-century, the study finds. That includes regions like New England and the Pacific Northwest that haven’t historically faced high-heat days.
...Extreme heat threatens public health, particularly for vulnerable parts of the population, such as children, the elderly, those with chronic illnesses, low-income communities, and outdoor workers. It can also exacerbate other conditions such as heart attacks and respiratory illness.“What people don’t realize is there are more deaths from heat than any of the other manifestations of climate change,” Jonathan Fielding, a professor of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles and former director of the city’s public health department, said in an interview.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/killer-heat-days-to-surge-without-climate-action-report-says
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