Heat waves intensifying in mid-latitudes a growing emergency

Carol Forsloff - "Heat
waves are a growing concern and current climate models indicate they
will increase in duration and intensity especially in the mid-latitudes
of which Indiana and the Midwest is a part," says climate researcher and
IUPUI Professor Daniel Johnson.


When
we think of heat waves, we are inclined to think of the tropics or those
instances in cities, but now patterns are showing up in places
unexpected like Russia and the mid-section United States.


Scientists believe, however,  these heat waves will only intensify, especially in the areas of the Midwest.


"Heat
waves are known to kill hundreds of people in the United States every
year and are the leading cause of weather-related fatalities; usually
outstripping the combined effects of hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning
and flash floods. "says Professor Daniel Johnson.


Johnson
is a climate researcher and Indiana University-Purdue professor in
geography.  He observes that climate models show heat waves are going to
increase both in duration and intensity, especially in the
mid-latitudes, which includes Indiana and the Midwest.


"One
of the most likely disasters to strike the Central Indiana region is an
extreme heat event of considerable duration and strength," Johnson says.


Johnson
and his team are examining the impact on urban populations of the heat
waves in order to help emergency personnel with both mitigation and
response efforts to incidents caused by these heat waves.


Other meteorologists voice similar concerns.  One of them, Jeff Masters, has similar concerns about climate change expressed by Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth" and Johnson, as he looks at patterns according to DemocracyNow


This
is a summary statement based upon a review by Democracy Now of
scientists statements and projections:   "Wildfires across Russia.
Devastating floods in Pakistan. Deadly landslides and flash floods in
India and China. Heat wave across the United States. Severe drought in
Niger. Taken together, scientists warn the events match predictions for
extreme climate events caused by global warming. This year is on track
to be the warmest since reliable temperature records began over a
century ago, mainly due to a buildup of greenhouse gases from fossil
fuels."


It is,
Johnson indicates by his research preliminaries, time to prepare for
increasingly hot temperatures in anticipation of the emergencies and
health problems that can come about for people, especially diabetics and
seniors who are especially vulnerable in hot climate temperatures.


Al
Gore warned about these climate changes, got the Nobel Prize for his
efforts to combat problems related to climate change and has been the
joke of the non-believers.    He said at the time the world was reaching
a tipping point, according to the scientists of the world, and his
film, "An Inconvenient Truth" underlined the problems.


Naysayers
remark, however, scientists only do these things because they want more
money to keep their jobs through doing research and that their
pronouncements are simply scare tactics.  One writer has examined a
petition that had been sent around to get people to sign their
disapproval of investigations and conclusions about climate change.


The petition did not do well, according to the writer,
who talks about "science bypass" in his journal, the Mind of Dan, because
most of the major scientific groups, in all areas, believe through
scientific evidence and testing, in climate change.


But
Russia's fires, scientists say, in an area not known for such heat waves
and the devastating floods in Pakistan,  as well as heat waves in the
U.S. Mid-west provide strong evidence of the problems related to climate
change and global warming.


Johnson
tells us these issues are serious enough to warrant his research to
help the world prepare for the worst because of the safety and health of the people.


What if Al Gore and Johnson are right?

What about Indiana and Russia?