The longest and rarest heat waves — which can last for weeks — show the greatest increase in frequency.
  • Each fraction of a degree of warming will have a bigger impact than the last on lengthening heat waves, with the most extreme heat waves lengthening the most.
  • Tropical regions will see larger changes than temperate regions, and summer heat waves will lengthen more than winter warm spells.
  • Researchers led by UCLA and the Universidad Adolfo Ibañez in Santiago, Chile, developed an equation that has the flexibility to analyze one region or to gain additional broad insight by analyzing multiple regions as a whole.

The paper is here