By David M. Greenwald
Executive Editor
I have now lived in Davis nearly 30 years (since 1996). Ever since I moved here from a more coastal climate in San Luis Obispo, the summers are too hot for me and I end up missing my nice cool foggy coastal mornings.
Even after living in Davis more than half my life now, I still have not gotten used to the summer temperatures.
But it seems to me that things are a lot worse than they were when I first moved here.
During one of the days when the temperature was above 110 degrees, I mentioned to someone that I’ll bet we have had more days over 110 in the last few years than in the first 20 or so years I’ve been here combined.
While it’s always been hot, it seemed to me that 20 years ago, a hot spell was a 
little over a 100 for several days, even a week or so. But a hot day might top out at 103—not routinely 107 to 110.
I was watching the news yesterday and sure enough they graphed it out.
In Sacramento at least, there have already been four days of 110 this year. That is the most ever recorded according to their data.
Moreover, there were three days last year that topped 110, three the years before.
That’s ten in the last three years. And two days in 2021.
From 1997 to 2020, there were five days total over 110.
So the last four years have had 12 days and the previous 24 years had five. 1996 stood out as an anomaly with three days—but that was right before I moved to Davis. Even counting that year, the last four years have seen 12 and the previous 25 years had seen eight.
When I lived in San Luis Obispo, in 1987 there was a day that was 111 that was at that time the all-time high. However, a few years ago, it was 116, shattering the previous high—and two years ago, it got up to 120!
A few years ago, we saw that super heat wave in the Pacific NW where temperatures were churning at or near 120.
An article last week in the Mercury News called it “one of the region’s stronger heat waves in recent memory” including 76-year high temperatures and, in some places, record highs—even all-time record highs.
People die. And heat waves are costly.
“The hidden costs of extreme heat — from lost productivity to healthcare for heat-related illnesses — totaled more than $7.7 billion over the last decade, a new report from the California Department of Insurance found,” the San Jose Mercury News reported.
“Extreme heat is a silent, escalating disaster that threatens our health, economy, and way of life in California,” state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement. “We must prioritize resilience-building efforts and innovative insurance solutions to safeguard our state against the growing impacts and financial risks of extreme heat.”
The Bee, reporting on the same report, noted, “The report estimated that nearly 460 deaths were caused by these heat events, a figure that surpasses Cal Fire’s recorded death toll of the state’s 20 deadliest fires at 312.”
We think of things like tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning.
The biggest killer in the US—extreme heat.
According to statistics compiled by NOAA (as reported in Fox), “heat has claimed an average of 183 lives in the U.S. each year based on the most recent 30-year period from 1994 to 2023. That far outpaces the average number of people killed annually by floods (88), tornadoes (72), hurricanes (48) and lightning (36).”
According to the National Academy of Sciences, “Global warming is affecting how hot heat waves get, how long they last, and how often they occur. The toll of heat waves on human health is expected to increase as global warming continues.”
They conclude: “Worsening heat waves are likely to increase the number of heat-related illnesses and deaths. By the end of the century, the United States is expected to see thousands of additional heat-related deaths each year because of climate change.”
In short, yes, in Davis we are seeing more extreme heat events—and that is a result of global warming.
And extreme heat comes at a great cost to state and local governments and presents a devastating health impact that is likely to continue to increase over the next three quarters of a century.
