Southern New England is in the midst of a 56-year-long heat wave. It’s not always noticeable, nor scientifically official, but its effects are having a notable impact on the seasons, farming, weather, and public health.

An analysis recently published by Climate Central found that since 1970 all 50 states and 99% of major U.S. cities have warmed, with an average city-level increase of 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit. (Trends for Hawaii, which were analyzed separately and not included in the national average, also showed statewide warming.)

Providence and Hartford have hit 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit, while Boston’s average temperature has increased 2 degrees.

At the state level, on average, they have warmed by 3 degrees since 1970, according to the New Jersey-based nonprofit. The six states that have warmed the fastest in the past five-plus decades are Alaska (4.4 degrees), New Jersey and New Mexico (3.7 degrees), and Massachusetts, Vermont, and Delaware (3.6 degrees).

Rhode Island and Connecticut just missed placing in the top six, with both recording a 3.5 degree increase.

In 1970, when the first Earth Day was organized, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 326 parts per million. Today, it is some 30% higher, at 431.12 ppm. Last year the United States was on average 2.6 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average.

The world is warming faster than at any point in recorded history. It’s a big problem, although world-leader-pretends downplay the threat or, worse, call it a hoax.

Global heating is causing rapid, widespread impacts, including intensified heat waves, prolonged droughts, rising waters, staggering biodiversity loss, and public health problems, according to NOAA, NASA, scientific consensus, and the CDC.

The planet is experiencing reduced crop yields, increased wildfires, and stronger storms, with vulnerable areas facing displacement. Arctic ice is melting four times faster than the global average, leading to habitat loss and sea level rise. The Greenland ice sheet lost about 1,140 billion tons of ice between 1985 and 2022, which is 21% more than previous estimates.

Fossil fuels are the largest contributor to the climate crisis, accounting for about 68% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions. This pollution is having an adverse impact on public health.

The burning of coal, diesel, gasoline, natural gas, and oil is increasing the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, collecting in the atmosphere. Beyond increasing average annual temperatures, the climate crisis is having a powerful and varied impact on us and the planetary systems we need to survive and thrive.

Besides fueling more intense weather, wildfires, drought, and flooding, higher temperatures also extend and intensify both allergy and tick seasons.

Climate change is leading to higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons. There was 20% more pollen in the Northeast in 2024, and the season is roughly three weeks longer than it was in 1990, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Changing climate conditions can impact the amount of fungal allergens in the air. A 2020 paper titled “The effects of climate change on respiratory allergy and asthma induced by pollen and mold allergens” noted respiratory health can be particularly affected by climate change and that the duration and intensity of pollen/allergy season can be altered by global warming.

Studies have shown evidence that as temperatures increase and frost-free seasons grow, ticks that carry Lyme disease and other human pathogens will likely continue to expand their geographic and seasonal distribution in the United States.

For instance, the life cycle and prevalence of deer ticks are strongly influenced by temperature. Deer ticks are mostly active when temperatures are above 45 degrees.

The incidence of Lyme disease in the United States nearly doubled from 1991 to 2018, from 3.7 reported cases per 100,000 people to 7.2, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Vermont and Maine have experienced the largest increases in reported cases, which helps explain why Lyme disease, since 2001, has increased by more than 300% in the Northeast.

The number of Lyme disease cases, the major vector-borne disease in Rhode Island, has risen — the state has one of the highest rates of Lyme disease in the country — along with cases of babesiosis and anaplasmosis, according to a 2021 study.

Warmer and wetter conditions may also increase the abundance and range of mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus, Zika virus, and other pathogens.

The climate crisis has also been linked to rising hantavirus infections, as weather extremes exacerbated by global warming change how rodents behave. Hantaviruses are just one of many pathogens that rodents can transmit to people. Arenaviruses — a family that includes the virus that causes Lassa fever in parts of Africa and Guanarito virus, Junin virus, and Machupo virus in South America — are another. These viruses can trigger severe hemorrhagic fevers with mortality rates ranging from 5% to 30%. 

Prolonged drought sends rats and mice into populated areas in search of food, which can put people at higher risk of contracting the virus. Sudden rainfall following drought causes trees and shrubs to produce a windfall of nuts and seeds, which tend to benefit rodents and boost their numbers — all the while increasing the risk of transmission from animal to human.

As the region’s fever spikes, we and the natural world will become sicker. We either change our behaviors or suffer the consequences.

Frank Carini can be reached at [email protected]. His opinions don’t reflect those of ecoRI News.