The summer of 2023 was the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest in recorded history. Scientists say the extreme heat, combined with other weather phenomena, contributed to this summer’s epic ocean storms, wildfires, flooding, and droughts. In North America and Europe, such heat would have been “virtually impossible” had humans not warmed the planet with fossil fuel emissions, according to World Weather Attribution, a group of scientists who analyze how climate change influences extreme weather. Experts warn that continued burning of fossil fuels will result in temperatures that break this year’s heat records, which have imposed widespread health and economic costs.
In many parts of the world, extreme heat has been accompanied by high humidity, which can cause dangerous rises in body temperature and cardiovascular strain. In the United States and the Middle East, the “wet-bulb” temperature, a measure of heat which includes humidity, reached levels scientists consider potentially deadly.
Meanwhile, economists warn of the threat to growth. Some research has found that extreme heat is already costing the U.S. economy $100 billion annually, a price tag that could increase to $500 billion by 2050. These figures only take into account productivity lost when it is too hot to work, but extreme heat can also diminish crop yields, decrease tourism, raise health-care and energy costs, and damage infrastructure. A 2022 study by scientists at Dartmouth College found that extreme heat caused between $5 trillion and $29.3 trillion in global economic losses from 1992 to 2013.
The summer of 2023 was the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest in recorded history. Scientists say the extreme heat, combined with other weather phenomena, contributed to this summer’s epic ocean storms, wildfires, flooding, and droughts. In North America and Europe, such heat would have been “virtually impossible” had humans not warmed the planet with fossil fuel emissions, according to World Weather Attribution, a group of scientists who analyze how climate change influences extreme weather. Experts warn that continued burning of fossil fuels will result in temperatures that break this year’s heat records, which have imposed widespread health and economic costs.
In many parts of the world, extreme heat has been accompanied by high humidity, which can cause dangerous rises in body temperature and cardiovascular strain. In the United States and the Middle East, the “wet-bulb” temperature, a measure of heat which includes humidity, reached levels scientists consider potentially deadly.
Meanwhile, economists warn of the threat to growth. Some research has found that extreme heat is already costing the U.S. economy $100 billion annually, a price tag that could increase to $500 billion by 2050. These figures only take into account productivity lost when it is too hot to work, but extreme heat can also diminish crop yields, decrease tourism, raise health-care and energy costs, and damage infrastructure. A 2022 study by scientists at Dartmouth College found that extreme heat caused between $5 trillion and $29.3 trillion in global economic losses from 1992 to 2013.