When we talk about extreme heat, we talk about numbers, see an accelerating count on the thermostat, discuss record-setting temperatures. But what is it really like to be consumed by heat, surrounded by it, to find it impossible to escape?
In Rome, where I currently live, the city hit 41.8 Celsius — or more than 107 degrees Fahrenheit — in mid-July, breaking a record of 40.7 set just last summer. On a daily level, the heat is so debilitating that it’s a constant topic of conversation with basically anyone you meet. “Do younger people feel the heat the way we do?” an older couple asked me on the bus. I could only nod vigorously in agreement.
I’ve taken to describing it as “insopportabile,” or unbearable, because that is how it feels. It’s an oppressive kind of heat, the kind that leaves you dripping with sweat the second you leave the house, that weakens your mind from the moment you get up until you fall asleep. I see my sweaty face on Zoom calls — I’d like to say dewy, just to rewrite history — and I know it’s an external reflection of how my insides feel. When I do leave the house for walks, I arm myself with a bottle of water, which I inevitably refill multiple times at Rome’s free fountains. But most Romans take a different approach: with this kind of heat, in the hottest hours of the day, it’s better just to stay inside.
Perhaps it’s a sign that we’ve all settled into a type of tacit acceptance. Globally, we are soon expected to break a key temperature indicator: in the next few years, the Earth will likely pass the threshold of 1.5 Celsius of global warming since the start of industrialization. Extreme heat in the summer months is simply becoming yet another unavoidable facet of living with climate change. We can no longer call the heat unprecedented. This is just what we can expect every summer.
And while Europe may be the fastest-warming continent, according to a new report, that doesn’t mean the United States is immune. In fact, by the end of July, almost half of the United States was under what CNN called a “heat health emergency,” affecting roughly 150 million people. A New York Times heatwave tracker showed that, on August 14, roughly 97.6 million people, or about 30% of the U.S. population, were expected to see dangerous levels of heat. Dangerous signifies a heat index — or “feels like” temperature — of 103 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Prolonged exposure to temperatures that high can lead to heat cramps, heat exhaustion or even heat stroke.
So what makes heat so dangerous? Why can’t we just drink a lot of water, put on lightweight clothes and go about our day? Our body processes heat in part by sweating, but when external heat reaches a certain level, our body temperature starts rising faster than we can cool ourselves, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This can lead to heat exhaustion and, eventually, heat stroke, which can be fatal. Early signs of heat exhaustion include dizziness, headache and cold and clammy skin. Among the symptoms of heat stroke — indicated by a body temperature of at least 103 degrees Fahrenheit — are hot, red or dry skin, a fast, strong pulse and confusion.
Extreme heat is deceptive; it can simply feel like a nuisance until it is too late. But every year, more than 600 people in the United States die as a result of it, according to the CDC. This summer, at least seven people have died from heat-related illness in American national parks, based on early August data. That includes a 14-year-old boy and his stepfather, who crashed his car while trying to get his son help from heat-related illness in Texas’ Big Bend National Park.
The numbers from last year’s heat wave in Europe, its hottest season on record, are even more shocking. Researchers estimate more than 61,000 heat-related deaths in Europe between May 30 and September 4, with Italy and Spain carrying the highest total deaths. Data showed more heat-related deaths in women than men, relative to population. Susceptibility to heat exhaustion and stroke comes with certain risk factors, like being very old, very young, being pregnant or working outside.
Europe, in particular, is uniquely ill-prepared for the literal warming aspect of the climate crisis. The bulk of its residential infrastructure lacks the air conditioning that can make extreme temperatures bearable. Almost 90% of American homes use air conditioning, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration survey from 2020.Meanwhile, less than 10% of European households have AC units, according to an International Energy Agency report from 2016.
But these numbers are, of course, not static. From 1990 to 2016, global AC sales increased more than threefold. That’s not necessarily a data point we should be proud of — after all, AC makes up 10% of global electricity consumption, according to MIT Technology Review. The short-term solution to the heat climate change hath wrought is only making things worse.
What’s clear, and what has always been clear, about the climate is that we need to treat the disease and not the symptom. Ensuring every house has an air conditioner will temporarily make us cooler, but it won’t keep us that way. Even air conditioning has its limits and is dependent on other factors. New York City’s 2019 heat wave proved that when a power outage in Brooklyn and Queens left more than 50,000 residents without power for more than 24 hours — and, in turn, without cold air.
Addressing climate change requires being proactive rather than reactive. More than 20 countries in Europe already have heat-health action plans, according to the World Health Organization, which is a step in the right direction but not sufficient in and of itself.
Part of the answer, perhaps, lies in what local communities are already doing and have been doing for centuries: building for the climate and crafting shady and cool urban spaces to recover from the heat. A Grist round-up of on-the-ground solutions to extreme heat include innovative ideas like coating roofs with white reflective paint or tiles in India, which can reduce a house’s temperature by up to 5 degrees Celsius, or Medellín, Colombia’s “green corridors,” which has lowered the city’s temperature by 2 degrees Celsius.
How many summers will it take of the same dismal headlines, the same record-setting temperatures, the same excess death numbers in the thousands before the rest of the world admits that the time for change is here?
Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take
