SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

This week, officials in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada are blaming the extreme heat that gripped much of the region in recent days for hundreds of deaths. The worst of that particular heat wave has passed, but experts warn that excessive heat will be a growing problem around the globe going forward, including here in the U.S. Here's Paul Schramm with the Climate Health Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PAUL SCHRAMM: Climate change is causing heat waves in the United States to be more frequent and more intense.

MCCAMMON: And as we've just seen in the Pacific Northwest, those heat waves pose a big risk to human health.

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