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Report: IE Will Suffer A Dramatic Increase In Hot Weather Without Climate-Change Action

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - Absent significant global action to address climate
change, Riverside County, and the Coachella Valley in particular, will see
dramatic spikes in annual extreme-heat days by the end of the century,
according to a report released today by a scientific advocacy group.
   The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group
that has long pushed for worldwide efforts to combat climate change, offers
detailed predictions of anticipated temperature increases in areas across the
United States under various scenarios, including varying degrees of political
action by international leaders.
   The report states that Riverside County averages 95 days per year with
a heat index of 90 degrees or more, meaning days on which the temperature
``feels like'' 90 degrees or higher. With no action taken to address climate
change, that number will jump to 128 days a year by mid-century, and 148 days a
year by 2099.
   If worldwide leaders take some moderate action on climate change,
those numbers can be cut to 122 days a year by mid-century and 130 days a year
by century's end, the report estimates. If bold action is taken -- on the level
outlined in the Paris climate agreement -- the number of 90-degree heat-index
days can be limited to 123 a year in Riverside County by 2099, according to the
report.
   UCS officials said the 90-degree heat index represents the point at
which outdoor workers ``generally become susceptible to heat-related illness.''
   According to the report, Riverside County historically has averaged 12
days a year with a heat index of 105 degrees or more, but that will
increase to 42 per year by mid-century and 63 per year by century's end if no
climate-change action is taken.
   The report notes that statewide, California has averaged nine days a
year with a heat index above 100 degrees. That number could increase to 26 days
a year by mid-century and 43 by the end of the century. Among areas with a
population of 50,000 or more, the Coachella Valley and El Centro/Calexico would
experience the highest frequency of such days under such a scenario, the report
found.
   ``Extreme heat is among the deadliest weather hazards society faces,''
according to the report, titled ``Killer Heat in the United States: Climate
Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days.''
   ``During extremely hot days, heat-related deaths spike and hospital
admissions for heat-related deaths rise, especially among people experiencing
poverty, elderly adults and other vulnerable groups,'' the report states.
``Temperatures around the world have been increasing for decades in response to
rising heat-trapping emissions from human activities, primarily the burning of
fossil fuels. These rising temperatures are causing more days of dangerous --
even deadly -- heat locally.''
   The report makes no secret of the UCS' advocacy for action on climate
change, insisting its findings lay out a clear need for a global response.
   ``If we wish to spare people in the United States and around the world
the mortal dangers of extreme and relentless heat, there is little time to
do so and little room for half measures,'' according to the report. ``We need
to employ our most ambitious actions to prevent the rise of extreme heat -- to
save lives and safeguard the quality of life for today's children, who will
live our their days in the future we're currently creating.''
   Statewide, California averages 40 days a year with a heat index of 90
degrees or more. According to the report, that number would jump to 68 days a
year by mid-century without any action on climate change, and to 92 days a year
by the end of the century.