Extreme heat no longer confined to summer, extending health risks, study finds
There was a time when, across large swathes of the world, the seasons fed into each other in a relatively predictable cycle of warmer and colder weather. In temperate nations, frigid winter thawed into spring. Spring bloomed into summer, where extreme heat beat down until cooler weather provided autumn’s relief. No longer. A recent study […]
Extreme heat is no longer limited to the summer months, extending health risks, according to a new study. Traditionally, seasons in temperate regions followed a predictable pattern of warmer weather giving way to colder periods. However, a comprehensive analysis of weather data spanning four decades has revealed that this seasonal pattern has shifted dramatically.
Lead researcher Casey Ivanovich, a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, stated that extreme heat days are now occurring during traditionally cooler seasons, such as spring and fall, in addition to the summer. The study found that over the past 45 years, both extreme dry and humid heat events have expanded in their seasons across roughly half of the globe.
While the U.S. city of Phoenix, Arizona, is experiencing an earlier onset of wet heat and a later dry heat season, the researchers emphasize that the extent of these shifts varies by region.
Written by urgent.news from Mongabay's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
