Climate researchers of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) have collected data showing that the U.S. population is bound to experience more than double the number of extremely hot days there is today, as the climate crisis progresses toward the end of the century.
The peer-reviewed study arrived at a conclusion that by mid-century temperatures of 37.7 degrees Celsius or hotter could last at an average of 36 days in a year. Moving forward toward the end of the century, the number of extremely hot days can be expected to increase to 54 days in a year .
UCS lead climate analyst Erika Spanger-Siegfried said they are basically looking at increments in the kinds of oppressive heat wave currently spreading throughout ⅔ of the eastern U.S. regions. Conditions that spurred the spate of advisories and warnings released in nearly half of the country.
Co-author to the group’s report Kristina Dahl said that
“Even in the next few decades, nearly everywhere, people will experience more days of dangerous heat.”…“Data shows a hotter future that is hard to imagine today.”
The data referred shows what is likely to happen in the future if the current climate policies under the Trump administration continues.
Based on present forecasts by the National Weather Service, the heat index, which refers to the degree of hotness people feel from the combination of air temperatures and moisture, can go as high as 43 degrees Celsius in certain places. Yet there are continuous global reductions of the heat-trapping emissions coming from cars, power plants and other human activities, and such actions can keep summer seasons from becoming as hot.
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According to the UCS researchers, even slow actions to cut emissions could help Washington D.C. avoid 11 days a year of experiencing hotter than 37.7 degrees Celsius by mid-century, as well as help the city avoid experiencing 32 days a year of heat as high as 43 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.What the UCS Researchers Foresee if No Further Actions will be Taken
The UCS researchers have already noted that global temperatures have already risen at about 1 degree Celsius since industrialization, and is still on track to rise by almost 3.3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. .
If no further actions will be taken to reduce the heat trapping pollution, certain parts of Texas and Florida will experience temperatures of 37.7 degrees Celsius or hotter for a period of five months within a year. The off-chart periods noted by the researchers are occuring today but only in the Sonoran Desert located within the border of southern Arizona and California.
Without further actions, one third of the U.S. population will experience at least one week of those dessert-like temperatures by the end of the century.