Heat Waves Expected to Produce a High Casualty Rate
It has been reported that if there are no actions to take to stop carbon emissions, then the heat waves and the change of climate will claim the lives of one hundred and fifty thousand persons in the United States. Also according to the report, the 3 cities expected to have the highest count of deaths from the heat wave are Louisville, Detroit and Cleveland. They are expected to have death tolls of 19,000, 17,900, and 16,600 respectively by the year 2099.
The things that will contribute in the increase of these numbers are the concentrated population of those who don’t have any A.C units. Other cities that will be affected with this heat wave are Chicago, Denver, New Jersey, St. Louis and L.A. It is also expected that during June, July and August, the United States is going to experience above average temperatures, starting from California and going to NJ. The last twelve months from May of 2011 to April of 2012 is considered one of the hottest years on record in the United States. Last April was also considered the hottest April to ever be recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.
These numbers and indicators show that the change in the weather and in the global climate is starting to show and people are starting to feel it. In order to fight off these changes and to stop the carbon emissions, the NRDC has joined hands with the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States in order to minimize the carbon emissions from the power plants in the United States.
The most deadly days are called EHEs; Excessive Heat Events which will hit hard in the areas where there is a huge population of people who can’t afford to have an A.C system. This will cause a lot of people to be affected by the heat waves and with the increase of temperature, more causalities are expected.