Environmental group says weekend’s scorching temps ‘hard to imagine’ without climate change

The National Weather Service is forecasting even more extreme heat across the West this weekend, likely stretching into next week in many places. The service says that all people - not just vulnerable populations - could be at risk amid the extreme heat.

“Widespread high temperatures in the 90s and 100s followed by little overnight relief with lows in the upper 60s to 70s will represent a 20-35 degree departure from normal for many areas,” a recent post from the agency reads.

The group Climate Central said this potentially deadly weather should be largely understood as an effect of climate change. Much of the West is accustomed to summer heat, but Climate Central’s Andrew Pershing, who has led development of the group’s tools for measuring climate changes influence on weather events, said “this is an unnatural disaster that society has created over over a century of burning coal, oil and natural gas.”

“Until we get those carbon emissions under control, until we figure out how to adapt our society and produce energy in a clean way, these conditions – it's not just that they're going to persist – it's that they're going to get worse,” he added.

The group’s Climate Shift Index - a 1 to 5 scale - estimates how much more likely human-caused climate change leads to weather events like this heat wave. They estimate that nearly 40 million people in the region will experience heat made at least three times more likely by the burning of fossil fuels. Parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Colorado are expected to reach a maximum 5 on the index.

“It's really hard to imagine these conditions, especially the persistence, occurring in a world without human-caused climate change,” he said of those scale-topping estimates.

Pershing advised checking in with vulnerable friends, family and neighbors to ensure they are able to stay cool amid the deadly heat.

“We know what the big solutions are, in terms of deploying wind and solar to reduce carbon emissions,” Pershing said. “And we know what the community solutions are in terms of helping to keep people safe from heat. Nobody should die from heat. It's a very preventable situation.”