Agencies – Gaza Post
100 million Americans will be affected by extreme heat belt
By 2053, more than 100 million Americans will suffer from new and exacerbated health risks from extreme summer temperatures that will fuel the planet’s climate crisis.
There are forecasts for the temperature in 2023, that it will reach above 52 degrees Celsius over the counties in the United States, which are home to about eight million people.
But by 2053, these types of extremes could affect 107 million people in the county, in the “extreme heat belt” that covers about 25 percent of the United States.
The massive expansion of the dangers of extreme heat is devastating for public health, as high temperatures exacerbate dangerous health conditions.
They need to be prepared for this forecast, that a quarter of the country will soon fall into the extreme heat belt with temperatures exceeding 125 degrees Fahrenheit, “said Matthew Eby.
100 million Americans will be affected by extreme heat belt
In 2023, a few scattered counties in the desert of the United States in the Southwest, Midwest and South were expected to reach 52 degrees Celsius in at least one day. The report found that within thirty years, this danger had expanded to an “extreme heat belt” stretching from Texas to Wisconsin, along the southeast coast and a large part of Florida.
The new “belt” includes such major cities as St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois.
Most of the country will have more hot days above 38 degrees Celsius by 2053, while huge areas of Texas, Florida and Louisiana can expect more than 100 days each year with heat indices of 38 degrees Celsius or higher.
There is a possibility that the heat will not subside. Much of the South will see longer periods of consecutive days with a heat index above 38 degrees Celsius, with some places experiencing extreme hot weather for up to two consecutive months.
This year, parts of the southern plains experienced a series of prolonged heat waves, which pushed temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius, for days on end.
21 consecutive days with temperatures of 100 F or higher between mid-July and early August in the Dallas / Fort Worth area.
The region has seen 44 days above 100 Fahrenheit already this year, the seventh-highest number ever so far.
In hot and humid temperatures, people face the risk of heat-related diseases that can be fatal, especially for people such as the elderly, young children and those with pre-existing diseases such as heart or respiratory diseases.
An increase in heat means an increase in energy demand as people turn on their air conditioners to stay safe and cool. The new report found that the country is preparing to spend hundreds of millions more dollars on energy for cooling in 2053.
The report adds that all this energy demand could send more greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming into the atmosphere, leading to further global warming.
Extreme temperatures are expected to rise around the world because greenhouse gases, especially from the use of fossil fuels, are fueling the climate crisis.
The world warmed up by about 1.1-1.2 degrees Celsius above the temperatures of the XIX century. According to the UN climate science committee heat waves that used to occur once every ten years would occur almost every two years and would get hotter by 2.6 degrees Celsius.
The world is on track to reach 2.7 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century.
