Study says since 1979 climate change has made heat waves last longer, spike hotter, hurt more people

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

A new study says climate change is making giant heat waves crawl slower across the globe and they are baking more people for a longer time with higher temperatures over larger areas. Friday’s study calculates that since 1979, global heat waves are moving 20% more slowly meaning more people stay hot longer and they are happening 67% more often. The study finds the highest temperatures in the heat waves are warmer than they were 40 years ago and the area under a heat dome is larger. Heat waves used to last eight days, now on average they stretch to 12 days.