Urban areas all across the planet are increasingly experiencing heat waves says a newly released study conducted by smart people at the likes of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, Northeastern University, University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Washington. The researchers studied 217 cities and found nothing good:
The results showed that there were statistically significant increases in the number of heat waves per urban area during the last four decades. Of the five years with the largest number of heat waves, four were the most recent years on record (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
Even the nights are getting hotter:
Almost half of the urban areas experienced significant increases in the number of extreme hot days, while almost 2/3 showed significant increases in the frequency of extreme hot nights.
You can also forget about those cool summer breezes:
Extreme windy days declined substantially during the last four decades with statistically significant declines in about 60% in the urban areas.
Or cold waves:
Results also showed a general decline in cold waves
In related dystopian climate news, bigger storms will get bigger. So, embrace tonight’s wintry mix, it’s only gonna get worse.
(Photo: Chris Goldberg)
