Record-breaking temperatures that were recorded in southern America and Mexico as early as May this year could become much more likely, scientists say, as the planet continues to overheat.
According to researchers, more heat-trapping gasses are present in the atmosphere, which is causing temperatures to rise across the globe. It’s resulting in heat coming sooner than ever before, with heat waves becoming more frequent and lasting longer.
Scientists from countries such as the U.S., UK, Sweden, Panama, Mexico and Sweden all contributed to a recent study, which sought to discover just how much that human activity influences the intensity and overall likelihood of heat waves.
According to the study, maximum recorded temperatures during the May heat wave that happened throughout almost all of central America, Mexico and parts of southern America were hotter because of global warming that is caused by human activity.
In addition, heat waves like those are becoming 35 times more likely today and in the future because of that activity, the study found.
The co-author of the study, Izidine Pinto who’s a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological, commented:
“As long as humans fill the atmosphere with fossil-fuel emissions, the heat will only get worse. Vulnerable people will continue to die and the cost of living will continue to increase.”
Maybe surprisingly, heat is the leading cause of death related to weather in the U.S. In fact, it kills more people on average in a year than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined.
In just the first six months of the year, Maricopa County in Arizona already has six confirmed deaths related to heat — and the peak of summer is just beginning.
The office of the medical examiner there is also investigating an additional 100 other deaths to see if there’s any link to the heat.
In addition, The Guardian issued a report recently that said more than 100 people perished in Mexico because of the extreme heat there just since March. Horrible heat waves have also been experienced in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras this year.
Central America is particularly vulnerable to heat waves because there are high levels of poverty there, and because there doesn’t exist an adequate way to warn citizens of impending heat waves.
The authors of the study suggested that governments needed to work hard to improve the warning systems, as well as action plans, so that Central America could be better prepared for the increased heat waves that are likely to come.
They also recommended strengthening the resilience of the power grid there, and improving strategies to conserve water so that services could be more reliable while extreme heat was there.
The only way to reduce the likelihood and intensity of these heat waves, the scientists concluded, is to reverse the effects of global warming. That can only be done, they said, if humans find a way to become more sustainable and use less fossil fuels.