The study released Tuesday by the environmental advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) finds that two-thirds of the U.S. population, or about 210 million people, live in counties that have faced more extreme heat days each year over the past decade than they did from 1961 to 1990.
An even higher percentage of Utahns, 86 percent, live in counties experiencing more days of extreme heat than in the past, according to the report. The NRDC cited Utah as one of 20 states, plus Washington, D.C., with populations especially hard hit by extended and sweltering heat waves.