Question 1 of 15
Which weather hazard kills the most people in an average US year?
Why: Heat routinely outpaces tornadoes, floods, and lightning combined, though the deaths rarely make headlines.
Question 2 of 15
What two variables does the heat index combine?
Why: High humidity slows sweat evaporation, so the air feels far hotter than the thermometer reads.
Question 3 of 15
What is the highest air temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth?
Why: Death Valley's 134 F from 1913 is widely disputed. Readings of 130 F in 2020 and 2021 are considered more reliable.
Question 4 of 15
What is the wet-bulb temperature?
Why: A sustained wet-bulb near 35 C is considered the theoretical survival limit, because sweat can no longer cool the body.
Question 5 of 15
What is the urban heat island effect?
Why: Dense construction stores daytime heat and releases it at night, keeping cities dangerously warm after dark.
Question 6 of 15
Why are warm nights so dangerous during heat waves?
Why: Lack of overnight relief is one of the strongest predictors of heat-related deaths.
Question 7 of 15
What distinguishes heat stroke from heat exhaustion?
Why: Heat stroke is a medical emergency. Confusion, hot dry skin, or collapse means call emergency services immediately.
Question 8 of 15
What scale does the US Drought Monitor use?
Why: D0 is abnormally dry and D4 is exceptional drought, the most severe category.
Question 9 of 15
Which decade is famous for the American Dust Bowl?
Why: Severe drought combined with poor soil practices stripped topsoil across the southern Plains in the 1930s.
Question 10 of 15
What does evapotranspiration describe?
Why: It is the key term in agricultural drought, because it sets how fast soil moisture disappears.
Question 11 of 15
Why is leaving a child or pet in a parked car so dangerous?
Why: Cars can exceed lethal interior temperatures even on mild days, and cracking a window barely helps.
Question 12 of 15
What is a megadrought?
Why: Tree ring records show the American Southwest has been in one of its driest multi-decade stretches in over a millennium.
Question 13 of 15
Which index has long been used to measure drought severity in the US?
Why: The Palmer index combines temperature and precipitation to estimate moisture supply versus demand.
Question 14 of 15
How is a heat wave generally defined?
Why: Definitions are relative to local climate, because 90 F is routine in Phoenix but a genuine emergency in Seattle.
Question 15 of 15
What is the best way to cool someone showing signs of heat stroke while waiting for help?
Why: Rapid cooling saves lives. Target the neck, armpits, and groin, and never give fluids to someone who is not fully alert.