Study Says Extreme Heat Waves Will Be Common In The 21st Century

A Dutch researcher forecasts that life-threatening periods of intense summer heat will become more common and far more severe this century. In a paper soon to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Andreas Sterl of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute says that by 2050 many parts of the globe will experience heat waves that are 1.6 to 2.7 degrees C (3 to 5 degrees F) hotter than current periods of extreme summer heat. By 2100, heat waves will be even worse, he forecasts, with temperatures sometimes hitting 46 C (115 F) in Chicago, 43 C in Paris, 47 C in Los Angeles, and 49 C in New Delhi and Belem, Brazil. Such extreme temperatures place a huge strain on the sick and the elderly; during the 2003 European heat wave, an estimated 15,000 people died in France alone, with temperatures hitting 40 C in the southern part of the country. Sterl’s paper forecast that by 2100 heat waves in southern France could push up temperatures to 48 C.