Winters have been warming more rapidly than summers, and while less
extreme cold
sounds appealing, the future effects
of blistering summer
heat are expected to outweigh the benefits
of milder winters.
The problem, explored in a study published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy
of Sciences is not just the average planetary increment
of heat: it is that averages conceal
extremes, and the number
of episodes
of extreme heat is expected to climb dramatically even with a modest -
sounding increase in a global average.