Deadly Effects of Future U.S. Heat Waves Predicted

[Dover]

Deadly Effects of Future U.S. Heat Waves Predicted
By Sara Goudarzi
Special to LiveScience
posted: 14 November 2005
09:12 am ET

In 2003, a summer heat wave killed between 22,000 and 35,000 people in five European countries. Temperatures soared to 104 degrees Fahrenheit in Paris, and London recorded its first triple-digit Fahrenheit temperature in history.

If a similar heat wave struck the United States, the results would be disastrous, a new study suggests.

Researchers looked at what would happen if a comparable extreme-heat event settled on five major U.S. cities, learning that not only would the country experience massive blackouts, but thousands of people could die. In New York alone, the number of deaths would increase to nearly 3,000 in a single summer.

"That would literally double the number of excess deaths over the next hottest summer in the last 40 years in New York," said study leader Laurence Kalkstein, senior research fellow at the University of Delaware's Center for Climatic Research.

Already deadly

History shows that heat waves are deadlier than hurricanes or tornadoes. And studies have indicated that extreme weather events will become more common with global warming...>

http://www.livescience.com/environment/051114_heat_waves.html

[Tesha]

1. Golly, how tragic. 'Shame nobody gave us any warning, ehh? (NT)

[phantom power]

2. Gosh, but all the "compassionate conservatives" made fun of France...

for their heat-wave. Of course, if it happens here and tens of thousands die, it's different.