As Thanksgiving approaches and leaves and temperatures start to fall
across the country, heat waves are probably the last thing on anyone’s
mind. But ever since the Fifth Assessment Report
by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released in
September, a group of researchers from the Rollins School of Public
Health at Emory University in Atlanta have been using these latest
projections to understand the rising human toll of a warmer future.
According to findings, heat waves will kill about ten times more people in the Eastern United
States in 45 years than they did at the turn of this century. In
2002-2004, an average of 187 people in the eastern third of the U.S.
succumbed to heat waves. By 2057-2059, that number will rise to over
2,000.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control,
660 people die nationwide from heat waves each year, making it the
leading cause of weather-related mortality in the country. The CDC
defines heat waves as “several days of temperatures greater than 90° F;
warm, stagnant air masses; and consecutive nights with higher-than-usual
minimum temperatures.”
Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey were
identified by the researchers as the states that will witness the
biggest spikes in heat-related mortality.
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