Extreme heat new threat Northwest must prepare for

By The Herald Editorial Board

This weekend marks two years since the 2021 Northwest Heat Dome, a record-breaking stretch of extreme heat between June 27 and July 3 that year when temperatures throughout the Pacific Northwest hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit and hotter, contributing directly and indirectly to some 440 deaths in Washington state.

A new report from a team of researchers and others at the University of Washington, Gonzaga University and state departments of Health and Climatology, warns that extreme heat disasters such as the 2021 heat dome — a weather event where the high atmospheric pressure traps hot air above a region, such as the one now parked above the nation’s Southeast — are becoming more common, especially in areas where extreme heat days of high humidity and temperatures above 90 degrees were once rare.

The report — In The Hot Seat: Saving Lives from Extreme Heat in Washington State — urges action by state and local government officials, community organizations, health professionals and individuals to pursue a portfolio of strategies to address health and other risks of future extreme heat events.

Most residents in much of Western Washington, in particular Snohomish, King and Pierce counties are unaccustomed and unprepared for extreme heat, write professors Jason Vogel of the UW and Brian G. Henning of Gonzaga, in a recent article written for The Conversation. Nearly two-thirds of households earning $50,000 or less and 70 percent of rental units in the three counties have no air conditioning.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-extreme-heat-new-threat-northwest-must-prepare-for/