Local and state leaders warn of threat of climate change amid record heat wave

Amid record high temperatures across Washington, local leaders are pointing to the continued threat of climate change as the culprit.

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By the end of Monday, the Puget Sound area will have experienced three consecutive 100-degree days for the first time in its history, marked by historic highs in several cities. This is part of a worrying trend, according to King County public health official Dr Jeff Duchin, directly linked to a much larger crisis.

“The overwhelming extreme heat we are experiencing is just the latest example of our climate crisis and its impact on human health now,” he said. in a recent blog post.

Dr Duchin further warns that “the health and economic consequences of climate change are only getting worse”.

In King County, leaders have a complete plan in place to solve many of these problems, setting an ambitious goal of halving the region’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This will also see the county updating building codes to make homes greener more affordable, ultimately planting three million trees and focusing on racial justice as it rolls out this roadmap.

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Duchin is also not the only one voicing concerns about the recent heat wave, with Governor Jay Inslee also intervening.

“We cannot just turn up the air conditioning, we must step up our efforts to tackle the threat that is now intruding into our lives – climate change,” he said. Tweeted Monday.

These feelings were echoed by others during the late June heat wave on the West Coast.

“There is a lot of evidence to show that high temperatures and heat waves have worsened due to climate change,” said Tom Di Liberto of NOAA. in a blog post last week. “Heat waves across the contiguous United States have occurred more often and lasted longer since the 1960s, which is consistent with global warming due to climate change. “