Tag: heatwaves
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Too Hot to Learn: Cooling Argentina’s Overheating Schools
In many countries, schools are seeking other solutions due to the purchase and operating costs of AC, combined with an electrical grid that cannot handle demand from these devices and suddenly shuts down. There are ways to reduce dependence on AC: changing the buildings, and changing the cities they exist in. But these are not…
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Beat the Heat: How US Workers Are Winning Fans, AC, and Even Heat Pay
In 2022, the latest year for which we have data, 43 U.S. workers lost their lives to heat on the job. That’s up from 36 in 2021, and we can expect this cruel number to keep climbing. But from warehouses to coffeehouses to construction sites, workers using solidarity and creative action—even without the protection of a union…
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How to stay cool in hot weather
Though access to air conditioning helps prevent deaths from heat, relying mainly on AC may not be an ideal solution. In urban areas with a lot of AC use, waste heat from the units can make the local environment even hotter. And the carbon pollution caused by running AC can fuel further climate change, leading…
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Saving lives from extreme heat: Lessons from the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave
Extreme heat disasters like this are becoming increasingly common in regions where high heat used to be rare. Blackouts during severe heat waves can also leave residents who believe they are protected because they have in home air conditioners at unexpected risk. To prepare, cities, neighborhoods, companies and individuals can take steps now that can…
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Extreme heat + air pollution can be deadly, with the health risk together worse than either alone
Erika Garcia, University of Southern California; Md Mostafijur Rahman, University of Southern California, and Rob Scot McConnell, University of Southern California On the morning news, you see the weather forecast is for high heat, and there is an “excessive heat watch” for later in the week. You were hoping the weather would cool down, but…
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As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in
Paul Chinowsky, University of Colorado Boulder Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure such as water supplies, airports, roads and bridges. One category of critical infrastructure being severely affected is the nation’s K-12 schools.…
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Hot and getting hotter – 5 essential reads on high temps and human bodies
Leah Samuel, The Conversation Launching the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and the heat.gov site on July 26, 2022, the Biden administration cited heat waves and the warming climate as serious health threats. As the new initiative promises a “science informed response” to hotter conditions, five stories from The Conversation’s archive explain what…
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‘Children Are Not Little Adults’ and Need Special Protection During Heatwaves
By Emmarie Huetteman, published originally at Kaiser Health News After more than a week of record-breaking temperatures across much of the country, public health experts are cautioning that children are more susceptible to heat illnessthan adults are — even more so when they’re on the athletic field, living without air conditioning, or waiting in a parked…
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