From: Inside Climate News
By Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News
Jul 22, 2016
'Climate change is putting heat waves on steroids,' says prominent climate scientist, with dire consequences for public health.
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| This June was the hottest ever, and July has brought even more heat, particularly in the Midwest. Credit: NOAA |
Extreme
heat waves like the current string of scorching days in the Midwest
have become more frequent worldwide in the last 60 years, and climate
scientists expect that human-caused global warming will exacerbate the
dangerous trend in coming decades. It comes with potentially
life-threatening consequences for millions of people.
Research has shown that overall mortality increases by 4 percent during heat waves compared to normal days in the U.S. A study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2011
suggested that rising summer temperatures could kill up to 2,200 more
people per year in Chicago alone during the last two decades of the 21st
century.
"The
climate is changing faster than we've ever seen during the history of
human civilization on this planet, and climate change is putting heat
waves on steroids," Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, said during a news conference on Thursday. "Heat waves are getting more frequent and stronger." MORE
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