New study predicts Chicago could feel like Texas with extreme heat
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There's a new study that shows extreme heat heading our way in the near future.
CBS 2's Jackie Kostek spoke with one climate scientist who said some of the changes we're expecting to see over the next 20, 30, 50 years are enough to make Chicago feel like Texas.
And that has real-life consequences on everything from personal health to infrastructure.
In Chicago, it's been a mostly comfortable summer. But a new study published by the non-profit research and tech group First Street Foundation shows an emerging "extreme heat belt" – about a quarter of the country that is, by 2053, expected to experience temperatures exceeding 125 degrees.
When it comes to infrastructure, the study shows building materials like steel and heat absorb heat easily, and can reaching surface temperatures of 140 degrees or higher. That could be enough to burn people's skin and dog's paws on the sidewalk.
Enough to cause joints of bridges to swell and railway lines to become wavy, leading to possible derailments the study said.
But that's just one part of it. Amir Jina, an economist and climate scientist and assistant professor at the University of Chicago, said at the individual level, extreme temperatures can lead to heat-related illness and exacerbate pre-existing health conditions.
Not to mention raise energy costs.
"It's the people who are living in poverty, less well-off, who really bear those burdens, because a lot of the ways we have to deal with this. Stay indoors, work from home, that kind of stuff. If you're not able to do that, you're forced to be exposed more," Jina said.
This extreme heat belt reaches from Northern Texas and Louisiana all the way up the middle of the country into Illinois, Indiana and even into Wisconsin.
