Whats a Heat Dome? Are We in for More of Them?
People without air conditioning see temperatures in their homes rise to unlivable levels, and aid groups struggle to provide homeless people with cold water and shade. More than 600 people are killed by extreme heat in the U.S. each year, and many more die in other countries. The mountain of heat bakes the Earth under it, which can damage crops, worsen droughts and dry out vegetation, providing fuel for wildfires. Energy demand rises, lifting rates for natural gas and wholesale electricity as well as taxing supplies, driving some utilities to cut power to customers to ensure the health of the entire grid. Prolonged and intense heat can hobble public transportation, forcing the shutdown of commuter trains and streetcars as cables melt. Railroads often slow to a crawl because sunbaked steel rails expand, kinking lines and causing derailments. Also, heat domes become blocks in the atmosphere, like boulders in a river, bending the flow around them and leading to other consequences, such as stalled areas of low pressure that can bring floods further downstream.