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The data allowed the researchers to assess changes in streams nationwide. They found that riverine heat waves in 2022 were happening more often than in 1980 — with an average of 1.8 additional heat wave events taking place per year. The heat waves were also more intense, with temperatures during heat events about .8 degrees Fahrenheit higher, on average, in 2022 in comparison to 1980. Heat wave events lasted more than three days longer than in the past.

Li said the additional heat is causing about 12 more days of heat stress, on average, for species that need cold water. The study’s authors used 59 degrees F as its threshold for heat stress because some species, like bull trout, struggle to survive at about that marker.

“When we think about water, there’s a lot more attention about what quantity, because we can see it,” Li said. “We’re hoping this kind of study will increase the public awareness of the water quality issue related to climate change.”

Occasionally in the news are thermal power plants that have had to be shut down due to too high river temperatures. But those that aren't shut down will operate at lower efficiency, meaning more fuel burned per KWH generated; and, per KWH, more heated water discharged

Another one of those vicious cycle problems.

similarly as average river temperatures creep up, the number of days of extreme river temperatures grows exponentially

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3290571



The graph illustrates that a small shift to the right in the average shifts the whole bell curve to the right, and, in this illustration makes hot weather (orange) much more common and extreme hot weather (red) from almost zero probability to considerable probability

Specific examples are in the link above

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More on heat waves --


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Air conditioning costs set to soar (they increase at the SQUARE of the temperature differential)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127174891

So, on top of an exponential increase in extremely hot days, you have air conditioning electricity consumption increasing exponentially with the rise in temperatures. That's an exponential increase on top of an exponential increase.

Another vicious cycle

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Don't get me started on AI data centers, notorious consumers of large quantities of both electricity and water

The rains have come early, they say
We're all gonna wash away
Well, that's all right with me
If heaven's torrent can wash clean
The arrogance that lies unseen
In the damage done since we have gone
Where we ought not to be
Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

Lakes and levees, dams and locks
They put that river in a box
It was running wild
And men must have control
We live our lives in starts and fits
We lose our wonder bit by bit
We condescend and in the end
We lose our very souls
Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

We've had drought and near-draught all summer, combined with hot-hot days in the high 80s and some in the low 90s. Needless to say, our rivers have been lower than normal too.

I know it sounds like kid stuff to the Californians, but we're not used to this kind of heat and drought in Pittsburgh, where we normally have more cloudy days than Spokane. For the majority of our summers we've been dealing with too much rain, not too little.

If this is a sign of how things are going to be from now on, it's a very scary thought. I hope it's just a seasonal blip.