This story originally appeared in Voice and is part of the Climate table collaboration.
TO 4-month-old baby dies in Arizona As temperatures rose into triple digits. A two-year-old boy died in a hot caralso in Arizona. At least four people have died from Heat-Related Illnesses in OregonOne motorcyclist died and others fell ill. Riding through Death Valley as temperatures hit a record 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
These are just a few examples of the dangers of extreme heat in the last week alone. As the weather gets warmer and colder, extreme heat becomes Our new normalSummer will continue to bring reminders that high temperatures are an ominous threat.
And the heat has already proven to be even more devastating in other countries. At least 30 people in Pakistanmore than 100 people in Indiaand more than 125 in Mexico have died due to heat waves this year. At the annual conference Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi ArabiaThe extremely hot weather was responsible for the deaths of more than 1,300 people. According to the World Health OrganizationHeat stress is the leading cause of climate-related deaths, and as global average temperatures rise, The risk is increasing.
It is strange then that in so many aspects of our culture we view extreme heat as something to be willingly accepted, bravely endured, blithely ignored, or, in the case of some marginalized communities, entirely deserved.
Our books, movies, TV shows, common tropes, idioms, and social media often reinforce the idea that heat is something that, with enough mental acuity, we can overcome. But because of climate change, “enduring” the heat is something we can no longer physically do. It’s simply not possible in some parts of the world as temperatures rise. beyond the point of practical survival.
We’re well past the point where the millions of Americans who work outdoors in the summer or spend a significant amount of recreational time outdoors can do so safely without regular access to shade and hydration, and increasingly even that isn’t enough. Yet, ironically, the more we rely on air conditioning and other artificial cooling systems for relief, the more we become detached from the urgency of the problem.
It doesn’t help that heat itself, outside of an emergency like a wildfire, isn’t an immediate problem. It creeps up on us unnoticed, causing health problems gradually over the course of several hours, during which everything may seem fine — until it isn’t.
It’s worth examining our attitudes about heat: where they come from, what kinds of built-in biases they may have, and why it’s so hard to let go of the idea that failure to adapt to extreme heat is some kind of personal flaw, even in a global warming crisis.
No one has to suffer from terrible heat, and certainly no one has to die.
All our narratives about heat are about how to get through it. What if we can’t?
We do not question the need for heating during the winter. Why then do we consider cooling during the summer a luxury? Even after the The hottest year on record And probably the The deadliest year for extreme heatIn the United States, policies needed to deal with heat are alarmingly weak, if they exist at all. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency in charge of workplace safety, is only this year beginning to develop Federal Workplace Safety Standards for Extreme Heat although Workers across the country regularly die on the job due to high temperatures for years.
How did we get here? The delay in drafting federal protections for heat-exposed workers may be related to the idea that if they can’t handle it, they’re not tough enough — a literal application of the phrase “if you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen” and a deeply ingrained cultural trope.
