National Public Radio’s Rachel Martin spoke recently with Michael Oppenheimer, the coordinating lead author of the synthesis report of the IPCC’s Fifth Climate Assessment.  During the interview, Oppenheimer noted that the urban heat island effect will become more of a threat in the years to come, warning that heat waves will become more frequent and more extreme…

MARTIN:  Up to this point, it’s been hard to pin down where the effects of climate change are going to be most profound.  Does this report tell us anything about specific places in the world that are especially at risk?

OPPENHEIMER: Well, I would first point to three types of places…

The third area I point to which effects people particularly in cities anywhere in the United States, which already have an urban heat island effect – well, I’d point to the extra frequency with which we’re getting already and are going to get more in the future – heat waves.  In Europe in 2003, about 40,000 people died in the heat wave.  We just can’t afford to have that risk increasing over time.  We’ve got to get on top of our missions or else it’s going to get out of control.

Oppenheimer closed by noting that we’re making progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but that we’re not moving fast enough.  He described this report as a wake-up call to governments, noting that the opportunity to avoid a dangerous warming is disappearing.   The time to act is now.

You can listen to the full interview here.