In the history of heat waves in the United States, 1936 stands out

By the time cool air from Canada’s Hudson Bay arrived to relieve the hot Upper Midwest in July 1936, the United States was already experiencing scorching heat that extended into New York.

“North Wind Brings Hot Wave to a Standstill,” blared a cheering headline on the front page of The Chicago Daily Tribune on July 15, 1936.

The heat wave, which pushed temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius in Illinois and 120 degrees as far north as North Dakota, killing about 5,000 people.

In New York, Central Park reached 106 degrees. Desperate for relief, people slept on roofs and fire escapes and flocked to public swimming pools, which remained open until midnight. New York City recorded 21 drownings as adults and children who could not swim but were desperate to cool off jumped into the water.

The Dust Bowl, the Great Plains drought caused in part by agricultural practices, seemed to intensify the heat wave. Its duration made it extra challenging: Temperatures reached 100 degrees for 12 consecutive days in Springfield, Ill., according to to the National Weather Service.

Changes in farming practices and improved cooling technology may have prevented repeats of the 1936 heat wave since then. But the United States has longer and more frequent According to government data, heat waves have emerged in recent decades as the planet warmed.

In the summer of 2023, a severe, persistent heat wave swept across the southwest. Phoenix recorded temperatures of at least 110 degrees for 31 consecutive days, from June to July, breaking a modern record of 18 days set by the city in 1974. Maricopa County, which surrounds Phoenix, reported 404 heat-related deaths in July.

Global air temperatures were likely the hottest in modern times, scientists said.

It looks like the United States is in for another sweltering summer this year.

A season-opening heat wave has hit the Northeast and Midwest. In Chicago, temperatures hit a record-breaking 97 degrees on Monday. In New York, a high of 96 was forecast for Friday.

This period could have the most severe impact on a region stretching along the Ohio River and into New York State and New England. Among the cities in the crosshairs were Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

This heat wave could be similar to the one in June 1994, when Pittsburgh was on fire. That year, temperatures in the city reached 35 degrees Celsius for six days in a row, a series of highs that could be matched or surpassed this week, according to the local office of the National Weather Service.

Over the past thirty years, concerns have arisen about the dangers of extreme heat in urban areas.

In July 1995, Chicago was hit by a severe heat wave, which particularly affected the city’s seniors. Neighborhoods lost power, hospitals filled up, and one day the temperature reached a sticky 106 degrees. The morgues filled up and the death toll was later estimated at 739.

Because many of the people who died were older residents who lived alone, the heat wave served as a “turning point” in how many people think about heat waves, said Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy. , Environment & Sustainability.

“The social and economic structure of society has a huge impact on who dies,” she said.

Another factor influencing the human cost of heat waves is the novelty of extreme heat in regions not accustomed to it.

Three years ago, normally mild Portland, Oregon, was taken by surprise when temperatures rose to 116 degrees. Researchers said the heat was almost certainly caused by global warming and that there was a 0.1 percent chance of such an event in any given year in the region.

One day, the high temperature at Portland International Airport was about 40 degrees warmer than normal. Although the heat wave lasted only a few days, it had a devastating effect in the Pacific Northwest, where some countries do not have air conditioning.

The medical examiner in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, attributed 69 deaths to the record-breaking temperatures. Before 2021, heat-related deaths were rare in the province, and no deaths were recorded in 2016 or 2018, according to the medical researcher.

Most people who died in 2021 did not have air conditioning, the medical examiner reported.

Climate experts say the unusual weather in Portland confirms long-standing predictions that climate change would eventually lead to more severe heat waves in places that previously did not experience extreme heat.

The 1936 heat wave could play an important role in the history of American heat waves. But J. Marshall Shepherd, director of the University of Georgia’s atmospheric sciences program, said it should not be used as an argument against the evidence that climate change is now driving more extreme weather.

“Grass grows naturally too,” he said, comparing grass to heat waves. “But when we fertilize our lawns, it grows differently.”