Dangerous heat days are expanding beyond summer, with regional spring-fall shifts

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Add as preferred source Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Extreme heat has become more common—both research and lived experience document this—but when it arrives is a different question. A new study finds that, rather than occurring only during warm seasons, extreme heat events have become more frequent in the months before and after, too.

That timing matters. Extreme heat is harder on the body when it comes before people have acclimated to the season or after people have already had to endure months of it. It's also harder for communities to prepare for, since cooling centers and heat alerts are built around a summer calendar.