Get ready for more back to back heatwaves

Last July, temperatures in Waco, Texas reached an all-time high of 114 degrees Fahrenheit. It was was the 12th day in a row that temperatures had surpassed 99 degrees F, and the 7th day of record-breaking heat. The city’s energy use sky-rocketed as its electric grid struggled to keep air conditioners up and running. Local ranchers worried about dwindling food supplies for their cattle — the stock was running low because of the heat and ongoing drought. By the end of the month, 22 days had hit temperatures of at least 100 degrees F.

Waco was just one of many cities across the globe that broke records for high temperatures in 2018. Now new research from Princeton found that back-to-back heat waves (cycles of extreme heat interspersed with only short breaks of normal weather) will become more common thanks to, you guessed it: climate change.

Using computer-generated climate simulations, researchers forecast an uptick in serial heat wave events compared to single heat waves. While other studies have anticipated heat waves becoming longer, stronger, and more frequent as global average temperatures rise, the Princeton report also examined how threats to health and safety escalate when populations are subject to one heatwave after another.

Extreme heat already takes more than 600 lives each year in the U.S. — more than any other weather-related disaster. A person is more likely to become dehydrated after prolonged bouts of heat, researchers say, signaling an ever larger public health crisis. Multiple stretches of high temperatures can quickly sap a community of its resources. As the amount of time between each heat wave shrinks, officials will need to scramble to simultaneously address the damage done by previous heat events (such as power outages and drained emergency response systems) while preparing for the next spate of extreme temperatures.

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