Heatwave & Climate Change Arguments Confront Kansas City

Newsflash . . . It's Summer and it's gonna be hot in the upcoming days. 

Even better or worse . . .

KANSAS CITY NEWS JUNKIES SHOULD PREP AGAINST DIRE SKYFALL WARNINGS BURNING UP THE NEWS CYCLE!!!

Of course we won't deny "the science" but reasonable people should beware that it's a lot easier to make impassioned arguments against the current state of the Earth's climate when temperatures rise above 100 consistently. 

Moreover . . . 

Climate change deniers will struggle to maintain composure given that beloved old white dudes sweat just as much or more as everybody else in this crazy heat. 

Nevertheless . . . 

We won't pretend to understand meteorology . . . However, we do have a few insights about local news and it seems like the week ahead already holds a scintillating and heated debate about climate consequences that may or may not take place in the dark . . . Depending on how the grid holds up. 

Here's more info . . .

Record-breaking temperatures are hitting multiple cities. Phoenix recorded an unprecedented nineteen consecutive days over 110 degrees. Death Valley reached 128 on Sunday. Records are falling everywhere.

It's not your imagination: This is not a typical summer.

The extreme temperatures being recorded this summer are the result of the combination of natural variations within the climate system and human-caused climate change, with a hefty serving of El Niño thrown in.

Something more to consider . . . 

After all, the hotter it gets, the more people have to run their AC, adding ever more stress to the grid. Well, there's a reason the United States hasn’t seen such an extreme mass-mortality event: For all its faults, the electric grid is surprisingly resilient to heat emergencies.

And yet, heat is already a hidden disaster. Statistically, it causes more deaths each year than any other weather-related event—an estimated 12,000 per year in the US—but it doesn’t get the headlines that hurricanes, floods, or tornadoes do. And beyond that mortality rate, extreme heat exacerbates underlying health problems, sends people to hospitals, stresses emergency medical transport, and hikes health care spending.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Extreme heat has people cranking up their air conditioners-and energy costs

Natural gas prices are down, but temperatures are up and so are households' utility bills, adding pressure on agencies that offer aid to low-income residents.

'Hell on earth': Phoenix's extreme heatwave tests the limits of survival

Residents of Arizona's capital are used to scorching heat, but the summer's unyielding sizzle is making it harder to live there

July is world's hottest month, with spikes not seen in 125,000 years

The punishing, relentless and record-breaking heat continues on three continents.

Summers are always hot. Here's how we know climate change is making summer 2023 hotter.

It's not your imagination: This is not a typical summer. While heat waves have always happened, the ones now are hotter and happening more often.

A Grid Collapse Would Make a Heat Wave Far Deadlier

Climate change is making summers hotter, blackouts more common, and heat-related illness more dangerous. The power system may be resilient-but it still has vulnerabilities.

Developing . . .