By 2053, A Quarter `Of The U.S. Could Be In Danger Due To "Extreme Heat Belt"

Just a few days ago, a press release by the First Street Foundation came out stating that the U.S. is expected to be facing highly dangerous increases in temperatures within the next few decades. Founder and CEO of the foundation Matthew Eby went on to say “Increasing temperatures are broadly discussed as averages, but the focus should be on the extension of the extreme tail events expected in a given year.” As stated by Eby, the press release offers a more nuanced perspective by laying out the statistics in terms of how many days out of a given year will certain counties of the U.S. reach or exceed temperatures of 125°F, rather than simply calculating what the record-high temperatures are on average without comparing yearly statistics to one another. 

Miami-Dade County is expected to receive the brunt of these temperature increases with the area currently dealing with 7 days of the year reaching highs of 103°F, whereas by 2053 the county is set to reach the same temperature for a whopping 34 days of the year. In terms of the national average, the local hottest 7 days of any given county is expected to more than double by becoming the hottest 18 days. There are currently about 50 counties, home to just over 8 million U.S. residents, where record-high temperatures have already reached 125°F. To top off these concerning statistics, by 2053 there will be over 1,000 counties (which is home to nearly 108 million Americans) expected to exceed 125°F. 

The press release is peer-reviewed and identifies the increases in temperatures at a property level. The findings from this extreme heat model will now be incorporated into the risk factor for any property within the contiguous United States, allowing future property owners to understand dangers and risks that these extreme heat findings can have on their prospective properties. 

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