Steele quoted on heat islands in Los Angeles area
"I call them heat storms. Because they are so dramatic. In 2006, we had a heat wave and 147 people were documented as dying by the Los Angeles County Coroner. But researchers believe the number was three or four times higher - that over 600 people died as a result of that heat wave," explained Nancy Steele, executive director of the Southern California-based Council for Watershed Health, which used to be called the Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council.
"And we know those heat storms are going to increase in frequency. That is what the most recent UCLA study told us," Steele added.
Steele was referring to last week's study by the UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, which forecasted Southern California would be warmer by 3 to 5 degrees in the years 2041 to 2060. Researchers downscaled global climate change computer models to the local region, breaking down predictions to 1.2-mile segments. The models are 2,500 times more precise than previous climate models for the region.
