Better get used to killer heat waves - thanks to global warming

[Kadie]

Better get used to killer heat waves
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Fri Jul 28, 7:57 PM ET



In Fresno, the morgue is full of victims from a California heat wave. A combination of heat and power outages killed a dozen people in Missouri. And in parts of Europe, temperatures are hotter than in 2003 when a heat wave killed 35,000 people.

Get used to it.

_For the next week, much of the nation should expect more "extreme heat," the National Weather Service predicts.

_In the month of August, most of the United States will see "above normal temperatures," forecasters say.

_For the long-term future, the world will see more and worse killer heat waves because of global warming, scientists say.

The July burst of killer heat waves around the world can't be specifically blamed on global warming. And they aren't the worst ever — they still can't quite hold a melting candle to the scorching heat of America's 1930s Dust Bowl. But the trend is pointed in that direction, experts say.

snip...
"These (heat) events always occur. What global warming does is push it up another notch," Trenberth said.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060728/ap_on_sc/killer_heat_waves_2



George, a two-and-a-half-year old lowland gorilla, licks his frozen treat at the Oklahoma City Zoo, in Oklahoma City, Friday, July 28, 2006. The frozen treat is part of the zoo's enrichment program. Very hot temperatures are expected to return across Oklahoma through the weekend. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)