CINCINNATI — Bengals fans who have been going to games for years might say it feels hotter during the season and they're right. Data from Climate Central shows from 1970 to 2019, the average temperature during the season has gone up almost two degrees.
"Climate change is real," WCPO 9 News chief meteorologist Steve Raleigh said.
Raleigh has been giving the Tri-State the most accurate forecast for nearly 20 years and he can confidently say the fall is getting warmer.
"We generally are having as many as seven to 10 days above average that we've seen in the fall than ever before," Raleigh said. "Consequently, it's affecting the athletes, the cheerleaders, the coaches and everybody else on the field."
Not only is climate change affecting how hot it is, but so is the structure of our city. Paycor is on an "urban heat island."
"If your urban heat island effect is six degrees and your air temperature is 90, then you're tacking on six degrees. Then if you have a humid day, then you're tacking on that heat index. So it feels more like 100 degrees and then that becomes extremely problematic," Climate Central meteorologist Lauren Casey said.
Casey says in the Tri-State, it's easy to get to a point where heat can get dangerous.
"In your region, 86 degrees is a threshold where we start to see large increases in hospitalizations as a result of extreme heat," Casey said.
Even athletes who are some of the strongest and fastest humans can fall victim. In 2001, Minnesota Vikings Offensive Lineman Korey Stringer died of exertional heat stroke during training camp. He was just 27 years old.
"During the preseason period, which is the acute period that is the highest risk for a football athlete for an exertional heat stroke," said Dr. Rebecca Stearns, chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute. "We don't see as much in games and competitions from an exertional heat stroke perspective, mostly because the work-to-rest ratios are improved."
Partly due to KSI's advocacy and research, the NFL created a standard protocol for suspected exertional heatstroke. It's endorsed by KSI.
"If we continue to climb in temperature, imagine the next generation of football players having to play," said Raleigh. "As a result, you're going to have to play indoors all the time. Otherwise, these athletes are gonna fall from heat exhaustion."
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