Increases in potentially deadly heat, driven by climate change, will affect every state in the contiguous U.S. in the decades ahead. That’s the main conclusion of a new report released today by the Union of Concern Scientists. It’s accompanied by a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Environmental Research Communications.
The analysis, titled “Killer Heat in the United States: Climate Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days” says we should expect a hotter future, and that nearly everywhere, and that by the end of the century, assuming we take no action to reduce global emissions, parts of Florida and Texas would experience the equivalent of at least five months per year on average when the “feels like” temperature exceeds 100 degrees, with most of these days even surpassing 105 degrees. And this of course is a global issue: Europe’s five hottest summers in the past 500 years have all happened in the past 15 years, and that does not include this summer’s already massive heat waves.
We discuss the report and how it was compiled with one of its co-authors: Juan Declet-Barreto is a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
