Phoenix Will Have 110 Straight Days Of 100 Degree Weather

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News headlines across the country blasted that Phoenix had 100-degree F temperatures for 100 days. It broke a record of 76 consecutive days set in 1993. According to AccuWeather forecasts, the record will be broken again for each of the next ten days. On four of those, it will have a temperature above 110 degrees.

Scientists say that the Phoenix record is based on global warming. Much of the West has had many 100-degree days this year. In Las Vegas, the temperature topped 110 degrees on several days. A number of record daytime highs are expected in the next week across the West and Southwest. In heat-plagued Death Valley, the figure is expected to rise above 120 degrees, Scientists say that a rise in heat domes caused partly by human activity helps cause these along with a change in El Nino. An increase in water temperature in the eastern tropical Pacific causes El Nino changes.

Human Fallout

One certain thing is that the areas that will affect human health have become huge geographically. Millions of people in this region do not have air conditioning. This was one of the reasons that there were over 600 heat-related deaths in the Phoenix area last year. The number was undercounted because death certificates sometimes attribute heat deaths to other causes.

Business Shut Down

The extreme heat also affects the economy. Entire industries, particularly those in which workers must work outdoors, shut down.

What happens during these extreme heat periods increases and intensifies—more air conditioning results in more deaths and lower economic productivity. And eventually, people will leave for more places with more temperate climates.