"Extreme weather alerts for dangerous heat, wildfires, storms, flooding and other hazards have affected nearly everyone in the United States over the past few months.
Tracking data from the National Weather Service, the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists has found that since the beginning of May, extreme weather alerts have been issued for 99% of the country’s population.
It’s a striking statistic that underlines the growing risks the nation faces as climate change continues to intensify extremes — such as last month’s record heat in California.
My colleague Hayley Smith spoke with scientists to unpack the significance of so many extreme weather events during the period from May to October, which some researchers are now calling the “danger season.”
Her piece highlights a key point from Juan Declet-Barreto, an environmental and social scientist who analyzed the data: Many of the alerts have overlapped, meaning that millions of people have been facing multiple hazards at once, such as wildfire weather and extreme heat."
Ian James writes The Boiling Point column for the Los Angeles Times August 20, 2024.
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