File-breaking temperatures are an incomplete benchmark for understanding the consequences of scorching warmth, argues Ladd Keith.
In some ways Phoenix, Arizona has turn into exhibit A for excessive warmth, particularly within the Southwest. The town set a report on July 18, reaching 19 consecutive days with excessive temperatures above 110 levels Fahrenheit, in line with the Nationwide Climate Service. The depend continued to rise—Phoenix has now entered its third week of temperatures above 110.
However Phoenix is way from the one metropolis coping with the consequences of this yr’s extreme heat, says Keith, an assistant professor of planning and sustainable constructed environments within the College of Arizona School of Planning, Structure and Panorama Structure.
He warns towards emphasizing Phoenix as “the only real place that warmth is impacting” and factors to the globe’s 4 “heat domes,” or climate techniques that lure warmth for prolonged intervals, at the moment scorching areas in North America, Europe, and Asia.
“Plenty of issues we’re seeing with the warmth wave within the Southwest are being mirrored in locations internationally, and we’re seeing a variety of comparable temperature information being damaged and impacts exterior the USA,” says Keith, who can also be a college analysis affiliate on the Udall Heart for Research in Public Coverage.
Keith is the lead College of Arizona researcher on a undertaking funded by the US Division of Vitality to review the influence of local weather change on Arizona’s city areas. The undertaking, known as the Southwest City Hall Built-in Discipline Laboratory, additionally consists of researchers from Arizona State College and Northern Arizona College. He additionally contributed to a new guide for journalists on learn how to cowl warmth waves and local weather change.
Right here, Keith explains what makes this yr’s warmth wave completely different, how authorities businesses have begun prioritizing warmth mitigation and administration efforts, and why record-breaking temperatures alone are an incomplete benchmark for understanding excessive warmth:
Supply: University of Arizona
