It is hot and it will only get hotter.
“July 21, 2024, was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth. The historic day comes on the heels of 13 straight months of unprecedented temperatures and the hottest year scientists have seen,” reported Sarah Kaplan recently in the Washington Post.
Temperatures in Las Vegas and Phoenix have been unbearable, running at 110 degrees to 115 degrees for weeks at a time. Pavements and blacktop in these and other cities run much hotter, up to 160 degrees, hot enough to cause second- and third-degree burns. Your body can literally cook if you collapse.
Our cities are not designed for the increasing heat we are experiencing.
In the January 2024 report, the World Economic Forum estimates that climate change will cause an additional 14.5 million annual deaths by 2050. The report says that floods pose the highest risk with deaths projected at 8.5 million by 2025. Drought-linked high heat will cause 3.2 million anticipated deaths. Heat waves will have an expected economic toll of $7.1 trillion and pollution will add 9 million deaths a year.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis, and it is driving a vicious cycle of disease, economic devastation and suffering,” said Vanessa Kerry, WHO special envoy for climate change and health. “If we fail to act, not only will the death toll be staggering, but we also risk losing progress made over decades to improve health outcomes around the world.”
We have been continuing to break record temperatures and have likely crossed the 1.5 Celsius degree global warming mark. Heat waves are more common and last longer each year.
According to the Center for Climate Change and Energy Solutions, if we do not significantly reduce emissions, temperatures in our state will increase by at least 5 degrees by mid-century and 10 degrees by the late century. Albuquerque can expect much of June through August to cap near 100 degrees on average. That is no surprise as we are already feeling it.
But if this is what 1.5 Celsius degrees feels like, what will it be like if we experience global warming of 2.0 Celsius degrees or higher?
When temperatures are so high that the body cannot cool itself, heat stress and heat stroke can occur. Heat related illnesses include cardiovascular and respiratory complications and kidney disease.
These increased temperatures also impact agriculture. Plants do not grow well in high temperatures, and some crops require cool evenings. Heat-stressed animals experience declines in milk production and slow growth.
Those of us who can afford to crank up our air conditioners, adding to increased energy demand to systems already stressing capacity. Many communities have developed heat preparedness plans that include cooling centers and workplace stress standards.
Trees and vegetation cool the environment and produce shade. We can paint our roofs white and deflect heat. But as temperatures continue to increase, there is only so much we can do.
The Center for Disease Control suggests we stay in air conditioning as much as possible, drink plenty of fluids, wear loose, lightweight clothing, and pace ourselves out of doors and take lots of cool showers and baths.
Many cannot afford air conditioning. Our poorest households have little protection from excessive heat. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 85% of New Mexicans have some air conditioning, but only 53% have central air. Seventy-five percent of us use fans. Some of our citizens do not even have electricity.
Many in New Mexico work outdoors in agriculture and construction. They have no choice and often no way to cool off.
Here in the West, our hot dry conditions lead to wildfires and other disasters. Much of our precious rainfall evaporates. In our urban areas our roads, buildings and infrastructure create urban heat islands that even overnight keep temperatures uncomfortable, threatening people, ecosystems and the economy.
We used to get some relief when temperatures dropped in the evenings. We opened our windows and cooled our homes. When it is 100 degrees for weeks at a time, that will no longer work.
“Climate change is revealing how brittle our development is,” said Christina Dahl, principal climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in a recent article in Bloomberg.com. “We’ve put cities and farmland in deserts that have little water and are extremely hot. Increasingly such decisions will be stress tested.”
To survive we must cut emissions and increase renewable energy production fast. That is essential if we hope to adapt to these increasingly taxing temperatures, because no matter how fast we move on reductions, it will still get hotter and hotter before it subsides.
Published on August 5, 2024, in the Albuquerque Journal.
© Judith Polich. All Rights Reserved. May be republished with author’s written consent and proper attribution.