Report: Climate change will permanently raise heat indexes in Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - If you are tired of the hot, sticky feeling you get when you walk outside, too bad.
Climate scientists have released a report saying, within 15 years, Florida is going to have many times the current number of days with heat indexes higher than 100 degrees.
"Absolutely, it could be much hotter than it is now," said Juan Declet-Barreto, a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Read the full report here.
The Union of Concerned scientists on Tuesday released a blunt report titled "Killer Heat in the United States."
Warning of increases in the number of cases of heatstroke among athletes and outdoor workers, the report says the number of days the heat index is above 100 will double by 2036, and days it feels like 105 degrees will quadruple.
"We are going to have what are literally off-the-chart heat index values, meaning the heat index calculations that were developed a couple of decades ago, do not account for the extreme conditions that are projected," Declet-Barreto said.
They released city-by-city numbers even more dire for the Bay Area.
Up until 2000, there were four days a year the index was above 105 degrees. By 2036, that number will be at 80. By the year 2080, there will be 127 days a year our area will feel like 105 degrees.
"People are going to be experiencing many more days of temperatures that could kill them," Declet-Barreto said.
The reports' authors admit they're pushing suspicious politicians - particularly the federal government which has pulled the US out of climate agreements and calls a green economy job-killing and unnecessary - to require drastic cuts in carbon emissions.
The scientists say if "bold action" is taken, the number of extra-hot days could be limited from 127 to 54.
"The transformations we need to do in our economy, in our grid, in our transportation need to be put in place so we can avoid the worst consequences of climate change that needs to happen now."