Thousands of Americans will die each summer if emissions go unchecked, according to the NRDC The record-breaking heat wave that gripped Southwest U.S. last week was particularly relentless?temperatures in Phoenix topped 115 degrees Fahrenheit for five days in a row. The extreme heat was not just uncomfortable or inconvenient, it quickly transformed the city into a deadly landscape: Hospitals reported treating people for third-degree burns and severe dehydration as temperatures hovered in the triple digits well into the night. A total of 12 people died from heat last week just in Phoenix.
The most worrying thing about the unusually high temperatures that sizzled the Southwest last week was that they?re not all that unusual anymore. A new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) shows the direct correlation between climate change, extreme heat, and summertime deaths. Heat-proofing cities and curbing emissions by adhering to the Paris agreement, it argues, could help the U.S. save thousands of lives in the near future. ?This report carries a dire warning: Reneging on our climate commitments could cause tens of thousands of Americans to die,? says Juanita Constible, special projects director in NRDC?s Climate & Clean Air program. ?If carbon pollution isn?t reined in, climate change will continue superheating summer with terrible consequences for public health in some of our biggest cities.?
The study looks at the number of deaths on ?dangerous summer day...