Killer Heat Waves
Across the Northern Hemisphere, searing temperatures are breaking records, disrupting everyday life and costing lives.
In Asia, unrelentingly high temperatures in Pakistan are making everyday life unbearable. In Tiancheng, China, it was 108 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 42 Celsius. In Japan, a heat wave has set records up and down the archipelago.
An intense, record-breaking heat wave sweltered wide areas of Europe.
And while summer temperatures in the United States have most likely not yet peaked, major cities in the West are already grappling with the consequences of extreme heat. In Clark County, Nev., at least 29 people have already died from the high temperatures. Across the continent, 11 have died in Maryland.
The rash of global heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere comes as average global temperatures continue to climb, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. Last year was the hottest year in recorded history, and new data reveals that the world is becoming hotter, faster.
New research from an international team of scientists shows that each fraction of a degree of warming will lead to longer heat waves, “with the most extreme heat waves lengthening the most.”
David Neelin, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a coauthor of the study, said that just as the world is getting hotter, faster, the intensity and duration of heat waves is increasing, too.
“For each increment of temperature for the foreseeable future, the change in the durations is actually going to be more than for the previous increment of temperature, basically wherever you are,” he said.
And that will mean more deaths. One recent paper suggested that heat could claim more than 30,000 lives annually in England and Wales by the 2070s.
To get a sense of how people around the world were coping with the heat, I checked in with several of my Times colleagues around the globe.
Countries such as India are no stranger to heat. Last week in Aminidivi, part of an island chain off southwestern India, the minimum temperature was 101 degrees Fahrenheit.
But Anupreeta Das, who covers South Asia for The Times, told me the region has experienced heat waves in recent years that are lasting longer and becoming hotter. And the country is not prepared.
“The Indian government has been slow to recognize the effects of extreme heat on people and draw up mitigation strategies,” she said. “In urban areas, slum dwellers, informal workers and those whose professions require outdoor work — such as traffic cops, vendors, construction workers and street cleaners — face extreme risk from excessive heat. In rural areas, farmers are among the most vulnerable.”
There are halting efforts to respond, Das said, including awareness campaigns that encourage people to stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day, and efforts to train community health workers to spot signs of heat exhaustion. Some cities, she said, were also coming up with heat action plans that include warning systems and cooling stations.
But as India keeps heating up, those efforts will go only so far.
“Given the rapidity of change,” Das said, many climate experts and scientists have urged the Indian government to extend their thinking beyond mitigating the effects of heat waves to “long-term climate adaptation strategies.”
In the Middle East, extreme heat is already the norm, said Vivian Nereim, the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
“Highs are hovering around 110 degrees every day this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where I have lived for a decade,” she said. “This is just a typical summer. Everyone who is fortunate enough to stay indoors scuttles between their air-conditioned homes, air-conditioned cars and air-conditioned workplaces, venturing outside only in the early morning or after sunset.”
This week in Tuz Khurmato, Iraq, the minimum temperature one day was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Elsewhere in the region, temperatures climbed to 125.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
But not everyone has the luxury of staying indoors, or escaping to cooler locales.
“Those who suffer the most are the people, mostly foreign laborers, whose jobs require them to be outside,” Nereim said.
That includes construction workers, street cleaners and food-delivery drivers, who arrive at your doorstep on tiny motorcycles, pleading for water.
“It’s the sort of dystopian future that wealthier countries around the world will face as the planet warms,” she said.
Back in India, Mujib Mashal, the South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, said that “every summer in recent years, the story feels the same in South Asia: that it is hot, and that it is hotter than the summer before.”
This month, Mashal wrote a powerful story about the unrelenting nature of the heat in one city, Sri Ganganagar.
“While we covered how the heat broke records last summer, this year we wanted to see just how this intensifying trend impacts life in some of India’s hottest places,” he said. “What was clear was the impact of the heat on health and on productivity.”
Yet Mujib also saw a population working to adapt.
“What we found was how much daily routines have been changing quite rapidly to adapt to this new reality,” he said. In practice, this meant “different work hours in offices and in farms, a heightened awareness of the risks of heatstrokes, medical preparedness at the village level for dealing with illnesses that exacerbate due to heat.”
Combating killer heat waves: A consciousness-based, collaborative approach.
Surviving increasingly frequent and intense climate-caused heat waves demands a multi-faceted approach that integrates technological solutions with a deep understanding of human behavior and societal well-being. This requires considering the ethical implications of proposed solutions and engaging in cross-disciplinary collaboration for enhanced innovation and effectiveness.
Here's a strategy that incorporates these elements:
1. Advancing consciousness-based technology solutions
Consciousness-based technologies can play a significant role in improving heat wave resilience by:
- Promoting individual awareness and responsible behavior:Gamified applications and VR experiences: Create engaging virtual reality (VR) simulations and gamified apps to raise public awareness about heat risks, symptoms of heat-related illnesses, and effective coping mechanisms.Personalized alerts and recommendations: Develop smart devices and mobile applications that provide personalized heat alerts and recommendations based on individual vulnerability, location, and activity levels.Encouraging responsible energy consumption: Implement smart thermostat systems and educational campaigns to encourage residents to avoid unnecessary energy use during peak times and embrace energy-efficient practices.
- Fostering collective action and community resilience:Community-based heat action plans: Develop digital platforms and tools that facilitate the creation and implementation of localized heat action plans, empowering communities to identify vulnerable populations and resources.Citizen science initiatives: Leverage mobile technology and sensor networks to collect real-time data on heat risks at the microclimatic level, enabling communities to monitor their environment and adapt accordingly.Facilitating communication and collaboration: Create digital platforms that connect community members with resources like cooling centers, emergency services, and information on heat safety measures during extreme heat events.
2. Emphasizing ethical considerations
Deploying technologies and strategies for heat wave survival necessitates careful consideration of ethical principles:
- Justice and equity: Ensure that heat resilience solutions are accessible and beneficial to all, especially marginalized communities often disproportionately impacted by climate change, according to the California Air Resources Board (.gov).
- Privacy and data security: Safeguard personal data collected through technology-based solutions by implementing robust privacy measures and ensuring transparent data usage policies.
- Informed consent and autonomy: Empower individuals with the knowledge and resources to make informed decisions about adapting to heat waves, respecting their autonomy in adopting proposed solutions.
3. Enhancing efficiency and innovation through cross-disciplinary expertise
Collaboration among diverse stakeholders is crucial for effective and sustainable solutions:
- Public health experts: Provide guidance on identifying vulnerable populations, developing targeted health interventions, and crafting effective communication strategies.
- Urban planners and engineers: Design heat-resilient infrastructure, such as cool roofs, green spaces, and efficient cooling systems.
- Social scientists and behavioral scientists: Contribute insights into human behavior and decision-making, enabling the design of effective interventions and communication strategies that resonate with communities.
- Technology developers and innovators: Develop and refine cutting-edge technologies like AI-driven forecasting models, IoT sensors, and smart infrastructure solutions.
- Local communities: Actively engage residents in co-creating and tailoring heat resilience solutions to their specific needs and contexts.
By implementing a multi-faceted approach that integrates consciousness-based technology, ethical considerations, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, societies can proactively address the threat of extreme heat and build more resilient and equitable futures.