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Climate Change and Extreme Heat (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Sept. 25, 2023
Report Number IN12250
Report Type Insight
Authors Jonathan D. Haskett
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
Summary:

The United States experienced a series of record-breaking heat waves during the summer of 2023. The heat waves brought extreme temperatures to various U.S. regions, including Puerto Rico, the southern Plains, and the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, with life threatening conditions in some areas. These heat waves are part of a trend of rising global temperatures. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintain datasets of global average surface temperatures. According to these datasets, as of January 2023, the warmest years since the advent of modern recordkeeping occurred in 2010-2022, with 2016 and 2020 tied (i.e., statistically indistinguishable) as the warmest years on record (Figure 1).