At the end of the century, summers in U.S. cities will be 7-10°F warmer, with others projected even as much as 12°F hotter, on the average between June-August, reveals a new analysis conducted by Climate Central, a research and journalism organization.
The analysis underscores that if existing trends in gas emissions persist, said average temperatures are likely to be seen in 1,001 cities in the U.S.
“Summer temperatures in most American cities are going to feel like summers now in Texas and Florida — very, very hot,” lead researcher Alyson Kenward says in a statement.
Climate Central’s interactive map illustrated a number of the most-noticeable examples of its calculation.
Boston is going to be as sweltering as it is in today in North Miami Beach, pointing that the average temperature for summer most likely will be over 10°F hotter than it is now.
St. Paul, Minnesota, projected to have summer temperatures of 12°F on the average, will be as hot as the scorching Mesquite, Texas.
Meanwhile, Memphis is seen to have an average summer temperature of 100°F, which is akin to the current temp in Laredo, Texas.
The blinking city of Las Vegas will be the American version of what is summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia now, with summer temperatures at 111°F on the average.
So is with Phoenix, which is forecast to be as hot as Kuwait City now, with average summer temperature at 114°F.
The nonprofit’s analysis only looked into daytime summer heat, which has the hottest temperature in a day. It also based its forecast by the increasing greenhouse gas emissions until 2080, which has been the trend in the several decades that passed, as well as what if the emissions actually go down.
“Summers across the country are going to get considerably hotter, particularly if our greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow at the rate they are,” says Bernadette Woods Placky, who is a meteorologist and program director of Climate Matters project by Climate Central.
The scenarios used were based on data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations.
The researchers, however, didn’t include dew point or humidity, which factors in considerably on how uncomfortable the heat in summertime can be.
While this analysis can’t completely tell what the future brings, some believe the interactive map simply shows how bad emissions can be in the next generation. It also shows how summers in the U.S. now are way hotter than in the 70s.
Climate Central provides authoritative and science-based information on energy and climate that will help policymakers and the public develop sound decisions on said issues. Full analysis and methodology of Shifting Cities: 1,001 Blistering Future Cities can be found in its official website [pdf].
