тАЬLike being on the edge of death if you go for a walk.тАЭ
ThatтАЩs how my colleague Jack Healy described living in Phoenix, where it has reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) or higher for 13 consecutive days, with no end in sight.
Jack moved to Phoenix in 2021, chasing stories about the fast-growing American West. And this week, he filed a remarkable article about the withering heat wave currently scorching the Southwest.
He wrote: тАЬSummers in Phoenix are now a brutal endurance match. As the climate warms, forecasters say that dangerous levels of heat crank up earlier in the year, last longer тАФ often well past Halloween тАФ and lock AmericaтАЩs hottest big city in a sweltering straitjacket.
тАЬIn triple-digit heat, monkey bars singe childrenтАЩs hands, water bottles warp and seatbelts feel like hot irons. Devoted runners strap on headlamps to go jogging at 4 a.m., when it is still only 90 degrees, come home drenched in sweat and promptly roll down the sun shutters. Neighborhoods feel like ghost towns at midday, with rumbling rooftop air-conditioners offering the only sign of life.тАЭ
Jack talked to a mail carrier named Rachelle Williams, who moved to Phoenix to escape Midwestern winters. No matter how much water she drinks or sun protection she wears, her legs tingle and head spins as she covers her route.
тАЬI donтАЩt even know how I do it,тАЭ she said. A community volunteer, who distributes water and ice to people in need, said the heat feels like тАЬwalking around in a blow-dryer.тАЭ
Jack knows heтАЩs lucky. He has a job that allows him to spend time in air-conditioning. Nevertheless, heтАЩs had to develop his own coping strategies for living in an open-air furnace.
He starts drinking water the moment he wakes up, тАЬto saturate your system.тАЭ He wears long sleeves and pants тАЬto guard against the sun and the reflected heat from the pavement.тАЭ He freezes water bottles and takes them everywhere, тАЬdrinking them down as they slowly melt.тАЭ And he always has electrolytes on hand to replace the salts that he sweats out.
One key part of living in Phoenix, Jack told me, is тАЬlearning to accept and live with being extraordinarily sweaty all the time.тАЭ
An over-baked world
The experience of Jack and his fellow Phoenicians is increasingly common. California is bracing for a heat wave with triple-digit temperatures. Heat advisories are in effect from the Central Plains to South Florida this week. In Texas, 10 residents of Laredo died from heat-related illnesses between June 15 and July 3.
тАЬPeople are used to being without air conditioning, surviving without air conditioning,тАЭ the cityтАЩs medical examiner told my colleague David Goodman. тАЬBut it was just too hot, and we lost a lot of people because of it.тАЭ
Around the globe, temperatures are soaring as the world enters a multiyear period of intense warming, fueled by man-made climate change and a naturally occurring El Ni├▒o weather pattern, which is releasing a gusher of heat into the atmosphere.
This week, temperatures are approaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Seville, Spain; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Marrakesh, Morocco. In places like Kuwait City and Basra, Iraq, itтАЩs not uncommon for the heat index (a combination of air temperature and humidity) to reach 125 degrees in the morning, The Times reported last year.
And just last week, my colleagues in Mexico had a story about what itтАЩs like to live in one of that countryтАЩs hottest cities, Hermosillo, where a 120-degree day is not uncommon.
But the risks of heat extend well beyond those cities that regularly rank as the hottest in the world. As Somini Sengupta wrote in this newsletter in April, тАЬextreme heat can be deceptively dangerous, even in places accustomed to extreme heat.тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs not just Texas and Southern California and Florida. ThatтАЩs not the full picture,тАЭ said Dr. Kai Chen, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health who studies the health risks from climate change. тАЬPeople are vulnerable everywhere.тАЭ
Dr. Chen and his colleagues recently unveiled an interactive map of the U.S. that shows how vulnerable different parts of the country are to extreme heat.
Their research revealed that people in Costilla County, Colo.; Marion County, Ind.; and Essex County, Mass., are also at high risk from boiling temperatures as heat waves affect more and more of the country.
Dr. Chen and his team considered factors such as income and education level, as well as how much green space neighborhoods have and whether people live alone.
Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, their research showed that in wealthier neighborhoods тАФ where people are more likely to have air-conditioning and do less work outdoors тАФ the risks from extreme heat were less severe. In neighborhoods with lower incomes and fewer trees, the risks skyrocketed.
тАЬWhat we found is that for people who have low socioeconomic status, especially minorities, the health risks of heat are much higher,тАЭ Dr. Chen said.
Whether youтАЩre in Phoenix, Baghdad or New York, itтАЩs important to know how to stay cool, stay hydrated and watch for signs of heat stress and heat stroke. All of that and more is explained in this helpful guide to dealing with a heat wave.
Yes, but that was 3 years ago and Biden did not do much.
Not much Biden can do without Money, and the Purse strings are controlled by a racist Republican congress
Surviving extreme heat
Author Headshot
By David Gelles
тАЬLike being on the edge of death if you go for a walk.тАЭ
ThatтАЩs how my colleague Jack Healy described living in Phoenix, where it has reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) or higher for 13 consecutive days, with no end in sight.
Jack moved to Phoenix in 2021, chasing stories about the fast-growing American West. And this week, he filed a remarkable article about the withering heat wave currently scorching the Southwest.
He wrote: тАЬSummers in Phoenix are now a brutal endurance match. As the climate warms, forecasters say that dangerous levels of heat crank up earlier in the year, last longer тАФ often well past Halloween тАФ and lock AmericaтАЩs hottest big city in a sweltering straitjacket.
тАЬIn triple-digit heat, monkey bars singe childrenтАЩs hands, water bottles warp and seatbelts feel like hot irons. Devoted runners strap on headlamps to go jogging at 4 a.m., when it is still only 90 degrees, come home drenched in sweat and promptly roll down the sun shutters. Neighborhoods feel like ghost towns at midday, with rumbling rooftop air-conditioners offering the only sign of life.тАЭ
Jack talked to a mail carrier named Rachelle Williams, who moved to Phoenix to escape Midwestern winters. No matter how much water she drinks or sun protection she wears, her legs tingle and head spins as she covers her route.
тАЬI donтАЩt even know how I do it,тАЭ she said. A community volunteer, who distributes water and ice to people in need, said the heat feels like тАЬwalking around in a blow-dryer.тАЭ
Jack knows heтАЩs lucky. He has a job that allows him to spend time in air-conditioning. Nevertheless, heтАЩs had to develop his own coping strategies for living in an open-air furnace.
He starts drinking water the moment he wakes up, тАЬto saturate your system.тАЭ He wears long sleeves and pants тАЬto guard against the sun and the reflected heat from the pavement.тАЭ He freezes water bottles and takes them everywhere, тАЬdrinking them down as they slowly melt.тАЭ And he always has electrolytes on hand to replace the salts that he sweats out.
One key part of living in Phoenix, Jack told me, is тАЬlearning to accept and live with being extraordinarily sweaty all the time.тАЭ
An over-baked world
The experience of Jack and his fellow Phoenicians is increasingly common. California is bracing for a heat wave with triple-digit temperatures. Heat advisories are in effect from the Central Plains to South Florida this week. In Texas, 10 residents of Laredo died from heat-related illnesses between June 15 and July 3.
тАЬPeople are used to being without air conditioning, surviving without air conditioning,тАЭ the cityтАЩs medical examiner told my colleague David Goodman. тАЬBut it was just too hot, and we lost a lot of people because of it.тАЭ
Around the globe, temperatures are soaring as the world enters a multiyear period of intense warming, fueled by man-made climate change and a naturally occurring El Ni├▒o weather pattern, which is releasing a gusher of heat into the atmosphere.
This week, temperatures are approaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Seville, Spain; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Marrakesh, Morocco. In places like Kuwait City and Basra, Iraq, itтАЩs not uncommon for the heat index (a combination of air temperature and humidity) to reach 125 degrees in the morning, The Times reported last year.
And just last week, my colleagues in Mexico had a story about what itтАЩs like to live in one of that countryтАЩs hottest cities, Hermosillo, where a 120-degree day is not uncommon.
But the risks of heat extend well beyond those cities that regularly rank as the hottest in the world. As Somini Sengupta wrote in this newsletter in April, тАЬextreme heat can be deceptively dangerous, even in places accustomed to extreme heat.тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs not just Texas and Southern California and Florida. ThatтАЩs not the full picture,тАЭ said Dr. Kai Chen, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health who studies the health risks from climate change. тАЬPeople are vulnerable everywhere.тАЭ
Dr. Chen and his colleagues recently unveiled an interactive map of the U.S. that shows how vulnerable different parts of the country are to extreme heat.
Their research revealed that people in Costilla County, Colo.; Marion County, Ind.; and Essex County, Mass., are also at high risk from boiling temperatures as heat waves affect more and more of the country.
Dr. Chen and his team considered factors such as income and education level, as well as how much green space neighborhoods have and whether people live alone.
Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, their research showed that in wealthier neighborhoods тАФ where people are more likely to have air-conditioning and do less work outdoors тАФ the risks from extreme heat were less severe. In neighborhoods with lower incomes and fewer trees, the risks skyrocketed.
тАЬWhat we found is that for people who have low socioeconomic status, especially minorities, the health risks of heat are much higher,тАЭ Dr. Chen said.
Whether youтАЩre in Phoenix, Baghdad or New York, itтАЩs important to know how to stay cool, stay hydrated and watch for signs of heat stress and heat stroke. All of that and more is explained in this helpful guide to dealing with a heat wave.