Can't Stand the Heat? This Interactive Map Shows You How Much Hotter Your City Will Be by 2100
Now that the fourth of July has come and gone, we are officially in the throes of midsummer. Temperatures are running high and the air is filled with the whirring hum of thousands of AC units. But according to a new report by nonprofit Climate Central, one day in the not-so-distant future, we will be mourning the era of 80 degree summer days.
Their Blistering Future Summers interactive projects what the summer high temperatures will be in 1,001 cities across the country by the end of the 21st century. The results aren’t pretty. The map compares those projected highs with the city in the US—or elsewhere in the world if there is no comparable locale here—that experiences those temperatures today. By 2100, summer highs in Las Vegas will top out at 111 degrees, which is what summer temperatures are currently like in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while those suffering in the sweltering 114 degree heat in Phoenix will know what it feels like to summer in Kuwait City.
Hotter summer days and extreme heat waves mean rising numbers of emergency room visits and deaths, especially among elderly people and young children. Agriculture is another concern, as heat waves and heat stress threaten the health of livestock and extreme temperatures prevent major crops like corn from reproducing.
Climate Central’s projections assume that greenhouse gas emissions will continue increasing, just as they have for the past several decades. After all, it’s not like those Phoenix residents are going to forgo air conditioning as temperatures creep upwards. Check out the map below to see how hot your city will get.Â