Map shows 'extreme heat belt' projected to cover a quarter of the US in 30 years, where temperatures would breach 125 degrees Fahrenheit


Olde Hornet

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Map shows 'extreme heat belt' projected to cover a quarter of the US in 30 years, where temperatures would breach 125 degrees Fahrenheit​



The heat waves scorching the US this summer may just be the beginning of an extreme heat belt forming across the country.

"If people think this was hot — this is going to be one of the better summers of the rest of their lives," Matthew Eby, CEO of the climate-risk research nonprofit First Street Foundation, told Insider.

The foundation published a "Hazardous Heat" report on Monday, using a peer-reviewed model to assess six years of US government satellite data and predict future risk of extreme heat by property. Its conclusions align with scientists' warnings that extreme heat will become more common, more extreme, and longer-lasting in the coming decades.

Next year, the report projects that 8 million Americans face the prospect of sweltering in at least 125 degrees Fahrenheit for at least one day. By 2053, that would rise to 107 million Americans — 13 times more people in just 30 years, according to the report.

That's about one-third of the current population, covering one-quarter of the US land area, as shown in the map below.
 
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