How extreme heat causes cascading crises

Extreme heat can create some extremely dangerous feedback loops for US hospitals and clinics.

The good news is that there are some practical solutions.

The time to prepare is now. Because the heat will probably get worse. Much worse. Shortly.

First the heat news.

You know all about how rising fossil fuel emissions are raising global average temperatures, making heat waves more frequent and intense.

The global average is already about 1.1 degrees Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, higher than it was 150 years ago. Imagine if your body temperature was always 2 degrees Fahrenheit higher. You wouldn’t feel so good.

Another thing is coming: a natural weather pattern known as El Niño. During El Niño years, global surface temperatures are hotter. His cool sibling is La Niña. Global surface temperatures tend to be cooler in its presence. We’ve been rolling with La Niña for three years. Lucky us.

The last record year, 2016, was an El Niño year.

Scientists predict the return of El Niño later this summer.

That, plus man-made global warming, will most likely drive global temperatures to record highs over the next five years, the World Meteorological Organization concluded last week. Us unprepared.

A serious projection makes it urgent for hospitals to prepare.

Researchers this week explained the possibility of the compound health risks. They tried to guess what might happen if a severe heat wave in a hot city coincides with overloaded power grids, leading to power outages for many days.

Using data from previous heat waves, they modeled the consequences of multi-day blackouts amid extreme heat. They concluded that in Phoenix, a scorching desert city where people rely on air conditioning all summer, such conditions could send an estimated 789,600 people to the emergency room for heat-related illnesses. That is almost half of the population. The city has only 3,000 emergency room beds. (You can read the story here.)

We’ve already had a preview.

Think about what happened in the Pacific Northwest during a record heat wave in 2021. Portland, Oregon, hit a record high, almost 47 degrees Celsius or 116 degrees Fahrenheit. Parts of British Columbia reached a record high of 49 degrees Celsius.

Thousands of people lost power. More than 3,500 people went to emergency rooms for heat-related illnesses. There were at least 600 additional deaths. Without human-induced climate change, largely caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal, such extreme temperatures would not have occurred, researchers concluded.

Not just the Pacific Northwest. Public health researchers from Harvard University surveyed health clinics across the United States. They found that 81 percent of clinic employees said they had experienced their facilities “some kind of disturbance due to extreme weather over the past three years.” More than three-quarters of those surveyed said they didn’t have the “knowledge or tools” to prepare for climate impacts.

In a pilot project, Harvard public health experts and Climate Central, a research group, are sending early warning warnings to certain cities two days before temperatures are expected to rise to dangerous levels. So far, 12 clinics are part of the project, including one in Portland.

There are solutions.

The heat and blackouts study estimated that more tree cover and reflective white paint on roofs would significantly reduce exposure to heat stress.

The country’s electrical system is in urgent need of repair. Our electricity grids are outdated, as Brad Plumer recently wrote. (Winter storms, some of which could be exacerbated by climate change, have also overwhelmed power infrastructure, as residents of the South and Midwest will remember as of 2021.)

Meanwhile, hospitals and health centers must receive emergency power.

And tip sheets for healthcare providers.

Harvard public health researchers and Americares, a non-profit organization, have teamed up resources to help healthcare providers and patients prepare for heat-related illnesses.

There are tips for that patients with diabetes (don’t keep your insulin pump or blood sugar monitor in a hot car or in direct sunlight or it will be damaged), and for those who people with asthma (check the air quality, not just the temperature).

There are tip sheets for doctors, nurses and paramedics about people who are particularly vulnerable (people with psychotic disorders are at high risk because exposure to heat can impair judgment and they are less likely to have access to air conditioning). Medications to treat conditions associated with it multiple sclerosis And cardiovascular disease increase the risk of heat-related hospitalizations.

There is a checklist for administrators of hospitals and clinics to check whether their facilities are in order ready for extreme heat. (For example, dust fans and blinds and remove ice and frost that have accumulated in refrigerators).

Heat is a serious health hazard. We can do a lot to make each other safer. It starts with knowing the risks and checking people around you who may be particularly vulnerable.

Shrinking clean water protections: The Supreme Court has severely limited the types of wetlands that the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate under the Clean Water Act.

To sew a city back together: Highways have cut through communities of color and split up neighborhoods. The Biden administration is funding projects that aim to reverse the damage.

Trouble in the North Pole dating scene? Due to climate change, female ground squirrels seem to be coming out of hibernation earlier. That could disrupt the mating season.

A pale shade of green: France has banned a number of short domestic flights. But the rule is full of exceptions that critics say make it toothless.

Whales ramming boats: A pod of killer whales has sunk three sailing boats off the coast of southern Europe. Researchers say they don’t know what drives the behavior, or how to stop it.

Innovation as a survival skill: Rising seas and the threat of hurricanes have forced the Bahamas to become a laboratory for climate adaptation.

Business Climate Disclosure: It’s been more than a year since the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed requiring companies to report their emissions, but concerns over a conservative Supreme Court have delayed the rules.

From the Opinion section

Reducing plastic pollution may be easier than we think: According to one estimate, nearly 80 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from just 1,000 rivers. Cleanup efforts should start there.

Before you leave: a solution just below the waves

They strengthen coastlines, provide shelter for fish and store as much as 5 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide. Are these wonder machines the latest shiny technical invention? No. They are among nature’s earliest creations: seagrass. Its restoration is a powerful tool for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Manuela Andreoni, Claire O’Neill, Chris Plourde and Douglas Alteen contributed to Climate Forward.