extreme heat

Kansas City has committed to planting 10,000 trees in three years. But the city's existing tree canopy is relatively old and under stress by climate change and other factors.

The Missouri Department of Corrections had a $14 million budget allocation to install air conditioning at one of its intake facilities. It will take years for the project to be completed.

A 15-year-old sophomore at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School collapsed and died during football practice this month. Similar tragedies have occurred repeatedly in several states.

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

Much of Kansas City experiences some heat island effect. As global temperatures rise, Kansas City planners and environmental experts are trying harder to make these hot spots cooler. Plus: Missouri hasn't just outlawed abortion — it's also funding anti-abortion organizations that are working in neighboring states.

Nearly 75% of Kansas City, Missouri, residents live in a heat island where temperatures can be at least eight degrees higher on any given day. That presents serious health and energy concerns, but efforts to cool these areas down are gaining steam.

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.

More than 10,000 households around Kansas City lack access to any kind of air conditioning — and during the summer, many more struggle to afford their electric utility bills. Some programs around Kansas City are trying to help.

The legislation applies to outages longer than 12 hours. Another measure directs the city manager to create an emergency response plan for life-threatening tenant conditions.

With geography already posing challenges for Midwestern forecasters, meteorologist Chris Gloninger says climate change has made traditional models obsolete and has voided historical precedents.

As Kansas City experiences hotter summers, and after senior tenants in a Midtown apartment building went without air conditioning last month, some local officials want to pass more protections for renters during extreme heat.

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.