Extreme Weather

This week I will be focusing on Extreme Heat!

 Extreme heat is classified as a hazard of "medium" danger in Chile, according to ThinkHazard. The website includes, "there is more than a 25% chance that at least one period of prolonged exposure to extreme heat, resulting in heat stress, will occur in the next five years". Much of the extreme heat hazard is caused by the increase of global temperatures due to global warming and the country's placement on the equator, however according to the most recent assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2013, northern Chile's "temperature increase in the next fifty years will be slightly higher than the worldwide average".

Example

Just a couple years ago in 2016, a heat wave in Chile's capital of Santiago broke the record heat set 100 years prior. For the last century, the record had been 98.96 degrees Fahrenheit (set back in 1915), and had been broken by a 99 degree Fahrenheit temperature. The meteorological service of Chile recognized the heat wave as "extreme", as "dangerous" wasn't deemed a fitting term, according to an article on Reuters. The health ministry also advised civilians to wear light colored clothing, stay inside and drink water.

 Sources

thinkhazard
reuters
heat wave

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