UPDATE APRIL 23: 13 Action News went to the experts at the National Weather Service in Las Vegas for more context on a study that named Las Vegas as the fastest warming city in the country.
Lead meteorologist Chris Outler explained how urban sprawl and population growth contributed to temperature increases that occurred over several decades.
The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition also met Tuesday to discuss a regional approach to fighting climate change.
ORIGINAL STORY:
With Earth Day upon us, an independent study has been released revealing new research on climate change along with a list of the fastest warming cities in the United States.
Climate Central, an organization of scientists and journalists studying facts about climate change, has been covering the topic since the first Earth Day back in 1970.
Americans across the country have experienced warmer temperatures, according to the study, but not all cities are created equal with it comes to feeling the heat at the same rate.
These most recent findings compared temperature trends in 242 cities and 49 states with Las Vegas coming up as the No. 1 fastest-warming city along with Alaska as the fastest-warming state.
When it comes to cities, the report says that the fastest-warming areas are in the southwest which includes not only Las Vegas, but also El Paso, Tucson, and Phoenix taking the top four spots.
Las Vegas has seen a temperature increase of 5.76 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970, according to the report, with El Paso seeing a 4.74 increase.
As for states, Alaska saw an increase of 4.22 degrees Fahrenheit followed by New Mexico seeing a 3.32 gain, along with Arizona, Delaware and Utah rounding out the top 5.
Temperatures have risen globally since the late 1800s, but the report also says most of the warming has occurred in the past 50 years.
More information about the study can be found here.
