Extreme heat

Extreme weather fluctuations jeopardize the lives and livelihoods of people in the Midwest region.

Humidity can bring the heat index up significantly, and “corn sweat” only adds to the moisture in the air.

Thirty-four Missouri residents — aged 11 months to 96 years — died due to heat-related illness in 2023, according to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services.

A heat advisory is in effect until Tuesday evening.

Heat kills more people every year than any other climate-driven disaster. But experts say hot temperatures are likely causing even more deaths than official numbers show.

Warmer temperatures are leading to more extreme precipitation, dry periods and dangerously humid heat waves all at once. But in a complicated system, some things aren’t changing as expected.

Tuesday was the warmest Feb. 27 in St. Louis’ recorded history.

It was the warmest year on record globally, and St. Louisans also felt the heat.

The year in St. Louis’ climate was defined by nights that wouldn’t cool down and a record-setting lack of rain.

Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska are part of an emerging “extreme heat belt” that could deliver more scorching days within 30 years. So far, there’s no unified plan to make our dwellings safe in the dangerously high temperatures to come.