CARSON CITY —The nonprofit group Climate Central projects Nevada’s already hot summer temperatures are going to get quite a bit hotter by the turn of the century, courtesy of climate change.
Bernadette Woods Placky, a meteorologist with Climate Central, said her organization evaluates the level of current greenhouse gas emissions to project future temperatures.
“Currently, the average summer high temperature in Las Vegas is 100.9 degrees,” she said. “New projections take that average summer high temperature up to 111 degrees by the year 2100.”
Woods Placky said climate change has been causing temperatures to increase in the U.S. since the 1970s.
Research from Climate Central is projecting summer temperatures will continue to rise throughout the U.S., but Woods Placky said some places will be hotter than others with temperatures expected to increase from 6-12 degrees. Woods Placky said reducing air pollution will help to slow climate change, but some of the damage is already done.
“Even if we were to cut by 50 percent. Even if we were to cut wholly, today, which obviously wouldn’t happen, we’re still committed to a few degrees to our future summers,” she said.
According to Woods Placky, areas in the northern U.S. will warm as much, or more, than places like Nevada. She says Minneapolis’ high summer temperature of 81 degrees is projected to reach 93 degrees by 2100.
Climate Central conducts scientific research and surveys on climate change and informs the public of key findings.