Climate Fact: Extreme Heat in Phoenix
While Phoenix has always been hot for U.S. standards, over the last 50 years the city has been getting even hotter. The average number of days per year when the temperature is over 100 degrees has doubled over this time period. Part of this is likely due to the Urban Heat Island effect, which has grown as the area’s concrete cover has expanded. Arizona leads the Nation in heat related deaths, at three to seven times the national average.
For the accompanying visual, visit http://www.earthgauge.net/climate-facts-image-library#3. This image is featured in the “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States” report recently published by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The image is in the public domain.
Seasons: Summer
Source: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and Thomas C. Peterson,(eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2009.
