This weekend up to two thirds of the United States was under an extreme heat warning. Many government agencies warned of the dangers this heat can cause and to especially to look out for younger and older people as they become affected to the heat more quickly. This rise in heat waves in fueled by the growing problem of climate change.

Climate change is driving heat waves to become worse for two different reasons. The first being that climate change makes heat waves more frequent. As the overall temperature of the earth continues to warm, it forces the temperature scale towards the hotter end. Even a slight change in this scale can cause heat waves to last longer than usual.

The second reason climate change is making heat waves worse is that it allows these waves to last longer. This is due to climate change affecting the jet streams. Jet streams move by changes in temperature and allow for weather systems to move. As the heat wave arrives these jet streams have no change in temperature to move and cause the heat waves to stay longer.

Climate change is causing heat waves to become more extreme and this will have deadly results. We need to find a way to combat this issue in order to halt the consequences of heat waves.

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