Here’s How Fast Long Island’s Temperature Is Rising

Nassau and Suffolk counties are among the counties in the United States where temperatures have risen dangerously fast since the late 1800s, a new study shows. The folks at The Washington Post used more than a century of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration temperature data to examine more than 3,100 counties.

In total, 71 of the counties have seen the average temperatures increase 2 degrees Celsius, according to The Washington Post. That’s the threshold at which experts warn global catastrophic effects such as the elimination of most coral reefs and enormous sea level rise.

Both Nassau and Suffolk counties have gone up 2.3 degrees since the late 1800s, a total of 0.3 degrees over the +2.0 Celsius threshold, and 1.3 more than the 1.0 degrees Celsius average across the United States.

Already more than 1 in 10 Americans are living in rapidly heating regions, including Los Angeles, New York City and much of the Northeast, according to the Post. Rhode Island is the first state in the continental United States to eclipse the 2 degree Celsius increase.

The majority of the “hot spots” are located around the coast lines. With the exception of Minnesota and Michigan, the Midwest hasn’t risen in temperature nearly at the same rates as the Northeast and West Coast.

“The only part of the United States that has not warmed significantly since the late 1800s is the South, especially Mississippi and Alabama, where data in some cases shows modest cooling, the Washington Post reports.

Read the full report.

Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report.