the.com/heatwaves
the sky's way of holding a grudge for a week straight.
means a heatwave is a prolonged stretch of abnormally hot weather for a given region, usually lasting several days or more.
from the term entered common use in the 19th century, but it took the 1930s dust bowl and post-war heat disasters to make it a household word people feared rather than just noticed.
deadliest killerkills more americans yearly than any other weather event.
silent damagedeaths often get misattributed to heart or lung failure.
night matters mostwarm nights that block cooling are the real danger.
definition variesa heatwave in london differs wildly from one in phoenix.
for instance
europe 2003 — roughly 70000 excess deaths across the continent.
pacific northwest 2021 — portland hit 116f, breaking records built for a cooler climate.
chicago 1995 — 739 deaths in five days, mostly elderly and isolated.
india pakistan 2015 — over 3500 deaths from a pre-monsoon heat spike.