Additional Contact:
LuCinda Hohmann, 312-291-0349 x220
Extreme heat will claim 3,192 by
mid-century, according to expert analysis
Click here for the report.
Chicago – The death toll from extreme heat in Chicago will
increase from about 110 to nearly 243, resulting in 3,192 additional
heat-related deaths by mid-century as global warming drives up summertime temperatures,
according to a new report released by Environment Illinois and conducted by Applied
Climatologists, Inc. experts Dr. Laurence Kalkstein of the University of Miami
and Dr. Scott Greene of the University
of Oklahoma.
The study’s examination of twenty-one U.S. cities found that 23,160 additional heat-related deaths
would occur due to global warming-induced temperature increases. The average
summer season would see a doubling of heat-related deaths, going from about 908
heat-related deaths per summer to almost 1,900 by mid-century.
“Make no mistake—heat can kill,” said LuCinda Hohmann,
Federal Field Organizer, Environment Illinois. “We need Congress to enact federal policy that
cuts our global warming pollution to the levels that will prevent the worst
effects of global warming.”
The report comes on the day that the Illinois Climate Change
Task Force will conclude a 6-month process to recommend a global warming policy
agenda for the state. That meeting,
happening on Thursday at the James
R. Thompson
Center, is expected to
conclude with a vote of the 40-person task force on a set of global warming
policy solutions, including adopting clean car standards, capping pollution
from power plants, investment in energy efficiency and development of our
state’s renewable energy potential. The
Task Force was created by Governor Blagojevich and charged with designing a plan
to reduce global warming pollution in Illinois
to 1990 levels by 2020, and 60% below 1990 levels by 2050. Environment Illinois Director Rebecca
Stanfield is a member of the Task Force.
“Illinois should take the lead among Midwest states in
addressing our enormous global warming impact, with policies that have already
been endorsed and adopted by Northeast, West Coast and Rocky Mountain states,”
said Rebecca Stanfield, Director of Environment Illinois. “There is an emerging consensus that we need
an aggressive plan, and we cannot wait any longer to put that plan into action
to head off the worst impacts of global warming.”
The report uses two measures to show the likely changes. The
first measure pinpoints the change in “increased mortality days,” which are
days that exceed a city’s temperature threshold for excess mortality. In Chicago that heat threshold
is 103 degrees and the city currently experiences 10 days above that threshold,
increasing to 17 by mid-century.
The second measure looks at deaths that occur once the
temperature threshold is exceeded. Chicago
currently experiences an average of 110 heat-related deaths per summer. That is
projected to increase to about 243 per summer by mid-century.
The prolonged high temperatures of future heat waves will
impact aging baby boomers the most, with young children, people with certain medical
conditions, and people who work or exercise outdoors also being at elevated
risk. In addition, the urban poor, many of whom do not have air conditioning
and lack access to air-conditioned public places, are vulnerable to heat-related
illnesses.
“We must commit to cutting our global warming pollution by
80% by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming,” said Hohmann. “We applaud U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and
Barack Obama for backing the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act. As Congress debates global warming, we urge
our Illinois Senators to settle for nothing less than science-based legislation
that will prevent the worst effects of global warming. In the House, we applaud Representatives
Jackson, Gutierrez, Emanuel, Davis, Schakowsky and Hare for cosponsoring the
Safe Climate Act and call on the rest of the Illinois delegation to do the
same, including Representatives Rush, Lipinski, and Kirk here in the
Chicagoland area.”
The study’s findings are consistent with a 1997 scientific study
by Drs. Kalkstein and Greene on the relationship between changing climate and
mortality in large U.S. cities, published in “Environmental Health Perspectives,”
which also found that populations in mid-latitude cities tend to be those most
affected by temperature changes. As a result, the increases in mortality during
heat waves are generally higher in the northern cities. The study was conducted
through Dr. Kalkstein’s firm, Applied Climatologists, Inc.
Environment Illinois
is a statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen-based environmental advocacy
organization
