Delineating and characterizing changes heat wave events and associated landscape impacts across the United States

Keywords: Heat waves, climate extremes, landscape, North America
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 47

Abstract

Exposure to extreme heat, heat waves, represents a public health threat as well as an environmental health threat. With projections for further increases in temperature in some regions, resulting from global environmental change, it is important to understand the spatiotemporal impacts of heat waves to minimize risk. To understand heat wave impacts one cannot look solely at the spatial and temporal temperature regimes but much also consider key heat wave characteristics: duration, size, magnitude, frequency, and region of impact. To understand the consequences of heat wave events it is critical to analyze such extreme events based on the cumulative impacts of these characteristics. This study, which is conducted across the whole of the continental United States, looks to map, and analyze such cumulative impacts of heatwave characteristics. Heat waves were spatially defined for the period of May-September of each year. Using persistence analyses and the development of a new index (Combined Heat wave Characteristics; CHCI) we can define regions of consistent heat wave exposure and impact. Results show that there are large differences across the United States in terms of heat wave exposure and impacting heat wave characteristic. Across much of the analysis a clear east versus west difference in patterns is seen. Overall, such work shows how and where differing, but covarying heat wave characteristics impact the U.S. With such information better management decisions can be made as such information can be explicitly linked to population, critical habitats, and other key metrics of both socioeconomic development and decision making.