In a global study, a Forest Service scientist and partners found that heatwave exposure was 40% greater in the past decade in lower income regions compared to higher income regions. In more vulnerable areas, future heatwave exposure may increase up to 5-fold. This work highlights the urgent need for heat-adaptation strategies in lower income regions. Hypothesized rapid adaptation in high-income regions yields limited changes in heatwave exposure through the 21st century. By contrast, lagged adaptation in the lower-income region translates to escalating heatwave exposure and increased heat-stress inequality. Adaptation is key to minimizing heatwaves’ societal burden; however, our understanding of adaptation capacity across the socioeconomic spectrum is incomplete.

• TAGS:
• adaptation,
• Climate Change,
• future projections,
• global,
• heat,
• low income,
• poverty,
• Resilience