The Extreme Heat of the Future Could Be More Dangerous Than Expected

By Willy Blackmore | Word In Black(WIB) – As we’ve had the hottest year ever after the hottest year ever, there’s been a growing popular understanding of just how dangerous high temperatures can be: it’s the deadliest form of extreme weather, and it disproportionately affects Black Americans. There have been headline-grabbing instances of Black people dying at places like work and in prison during heatwaves. And as we’ve been adjusting how we think about heat, scientists have been looking at how even hotter heat waves could come with even greater increases in global temperatures, which would continue to have an outsized effect on Black people in the U.S. What the research suggests is that humans have a lower threshold for incredibly hot, humid temperatures than previously believed.RELATED:& Extreme Heat& Is a Death Sentence in California PrisonsThat’s where so-called wet bulb temperatures come into play — and the danger they represent could have a disproportionate impact on Black America.What Is a Wet Bulb Temperature?Wet bulb temperatures are a measure of both heat and humidity — conditions that, at extreme levels, can make it so no one can continue to regulate body temperature, even a healthy person who has access to shade...