Here are the “hot facts” on our warming planet, and they are grim. The National Weather Service reports that heat kills more people in the U.S. each year than any other extreme weather event. That includes floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that 2023 was the planet’s hottest year on record. And in the U.S., huge sections of the country simmered under brutally hot weather.
As climate change continues to warm the planet and fuel even more extreme temperatures and weather events, not only is the hot weather likely to last longer but also get more intense and occur more frequently.
Which is why, as another hot summer looms, the government unveiled a set of tools developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)’s National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help protect Americans from the dangers of extreme heat.
“Heat can impact our health, but heat-related illness and death are preventable,” said CDC Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., in a news release announcing the new tools. “We are releasing new heat and health tools and guidance to help people take simple steps to stay safe in the heat.”
The centerpiece of the experimental system is called, appropriately enough, HeatRisk. It provides a seven-day heat forecast for locations across the contiguous U.S. The map has a numerical and color-coded scale showing the potential dangers of heat and humidity in a location. For example, 0 or green means little to no risk from heat, while 4 or magenta indicates rare or long-duration extreme heat where impacts are likely.
HeatRisk provides historical context for high temperature forecasts by showing what is considered typical weather for an area and how the current conditions differ. Most importantly, the risk levels account not only for projected high and low temperatures, but they also factor in the cumulative impacts of heat over daytime and nighttime conditions. One of the biggest changes in summer heat that scientists have seen is that nighttime temperatures don’t cool off. That means daytime heat continues to build on already high temperatures at night.
The HeatRisk tool features an interactive map that allows you to select a particular location. That’s important because a 100-degree day in Raleigh will feel different from a 100-degree day in Phoenix thanks to humidity.
“Climate change is causing more frequent and intense heat waves that are longer in duration, resulting in nearly 1,220 deaths each year in the U.S. alone,” said NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. in the release. “HeatRisk is arriving just in time to help everyone, including heat-sensitive populations, prepare and plan for the dangers of extreme heat.”
NOAA officials say a prototype of the HeatRisk tool was initially developed for California in 2013. The project was expanded to include Western states in 2017 and is now available experimentally across the contiguous U.S.
Test HeatRisk as you plan summer activities and then submit feedback on the tool to the National Weather Service through September 30.
And if you want more information on just how much heat the human body can take, check out this segment from PBS Vitals.
How is the human body affected by heat waves? And how can you protect yourself?
