Americans are moving to places besieged by extreme heat
AMY SCHWABENLENDER has a front-row seat to suffering. From the windows of her office in downtown Phoenix, she can see rows and rows of tents. Their inhabitants keep inside, hiding from the heat that is scorching the desert city. On July 18th Phoenix experienced its 19th straight day with temperatures of at least 43°C (110°F), breaking an 18-day record set in 1974. Ms Schwabenlender runs Phoenix’s Human Services Campus, a consortium of groups that serve almost 2,000 people who are homeless. “There’s people with burns on various body parts” from the hot pavement, she says. “Maybe they fall asleep, maybe they’re just laying there waiting for the next day.” Her voice gets quiet, almost to a whisper. “I don’t know how more people don’t die,” she adds.
Roughly a third of Americans live in areas where the government has issued warnings about extreme heat in the past week (see map). These hot cities are in the Sunbelt, or the southern part of the country, ranging from Los Angeles to Miami. Tourists flocked sweatily to Death Valley, California, the hottest place on Earth, to see if it would get warmer than the previous record of 56.7°C (it didn’t). Researchers in Florida worry that hot ocean temperatures will bleach coral reefs and worsen hurricane season.
David Hondula, who runs Phoenix’s new Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, reckons that a hotter city does not have to be more dangerous. Hot cities around the world—including Los Angeles, Miami and Athens—are appointing chief heat officers. These officials have two main jobs: to co-ordinate emergency response to heatwaves, such as opening cooling centres and distributing water; and to plan how to adapt to a hotter future, largely by diminishing the urban heat-island effect. City centres can be up to 10-15°C hotter than surrounding rural areas because buildings and roads absorb and trap heat.
2023-07-20 08:21:30
Article from www.economist.com
rnrn