How Climate Change is Making Summers Unliveable for Billions

As extreme heat waves become more frequent and intense, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis that is devastating public health and economies across the globe.

Jul 31, 2024

TLDR:

The world is facing an unprecedented heat crisis, with record-breaking temperatures across the globe.
Severe heatwaves have led to thousands of heatstroke cases and deaths, particularly among vulnerable populations.
The heat crisis has had significant public health and economic impacts, including school closures, spikes in emergency room visits, reduced productivity, and a return to remote work.
The heat crisis has been global in scale, with more than 60% of the world's population facing extreme heat.
The most harrowing event was the annual hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where temperatures reached 125°F, leading to the deaths of at least 1,300 people.
The true extent of the heat crisis may be even more severe than currently understood due to limitations in conventional algorithms for determining heat survivability.
Governments and policymakers must adopt a more proactive approach to building heat resilience, focusing on adaptation measures for local communities, infrastructure, and water resources.
Addressing the global water crisis and accelerating decarbonization are essential for building true heat resilience and improving planetary health
Heat preparedness must be integrated into health policies and the education and training of medical professionals, and researchers have a crucial role to play in understanding the effectiveness of heat-related policies and interventions.

The Facts:

The world is facing an unprecedented heat crisis, with temperatures soaring to record-breaking levels across the globe. In recent months, several regions have experienced severe heatwaves that have had devastating consequences on public health and the economy. Last month, Karachi, Pakistan, saw temperatures reach a staggering 120 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to thousands of heatstroke cases and numerous deaths, particularly among the most marginalized members of society. The Edhi Foundation, a local nonprofit, reported that it had taken in 568 bodies over a five-day period, a shocking increase from its normal daily intake of around 40 bodies.

Many of Asia's most vulnerable people live in poorly ventilated public housing or densely populated slums, which exacerbates the impacts of extreme heat. Air conditioning is not a viable solution for the vast majority of the world's population, as it is costly and carbon-intensive. Alternative solutions like "cool roof" paint and sustainable transportation systems can help mitigate the effects of extreme heat.

The heat crisis has had significant public health and economic impacts. School closures, spikes in emergency room visits, reduced productivity, and a return to remote work have all been observed in response to the extreme heat.

The heat crisis has not spared the United States either. In June, more than one-third of the country's population was placed under extreme heat advisories, and the situation only intensified in the days following Independence Day. Cities like Palm Springs, California, and Las Vegas broke their own previous temperature records, while Death Valley, California, reached a sweltering 129 degrees, just one degree shy of the all-time, anywhere-in-the-world modern record. Across the Western U.S., temperatures routinely registered 15 to 30 degrees above average, and scientists predicted a statewide death toll of about 100 each day in California at the beginning of a "historic" heat wave made five times more likely by climate change.

The heat crisis has been global in scale, with more than 60% of the world's population, or nearly 5 billion people, facing extreme heat between June 16 and June 24, according to analysis by Climate Central. In Delhi, India, June highs averaged 107 degrees, and the city recorded its hottest night in over five decades, leading to a dramatic spike in hospital admissions. Similarly, in Japan, one city's all-time heat record was broken by 11 degrees Celsius, while in Greece, the heat wave was so severe that the country issued special advisories warning tourists of the dangers.

The most harrowing event of the summer, however, took place during the annual hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where temperatures reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit. According to climate scientist Fahad Saeed, the combination of temperature and humidity in Mecca crossed into the "fatal zone" on each of the five days of the pilgrimage, leading to the deaths of at least 1,300 people. Saeed's research suggests that with continued global warming, the risk of heat stroke on the hajj could increase tenfold by the late 2040s. "And adaptation options have limits," Saeed says. "There were big claims from the Saudi government about all they would do to protect people. But we saw before our eyes that those options failed."

It is important to note that the conventional algorithms for determining the survivability of heat, on which many future projections for "inhabitability" are built, suffer from several simplifications and shortcomings. This means that the true extent of the heat crisis may be even more severe than currently understood.

While some experts have cautioned against apocalyptic scenarios, the reality is that the effects of extreme heat are already being felt worldwide. Across Europe, approximately 62,000 deaths were attributed to summertime temperatures in 2022, and globally, an estimated 500,000 excess deaths are already being linked to extreme heat annually. With many more decades of warming to come, the urgency to address this crisis has never been greater.

The View:

It is clear that the world is facing a growing heat crisis that demands immediate and comprehensive action. Governments and policymakers must adopt a more proactive approach to building heat resilience, going beyond simplistic measures like advising people to stay hydrated or remain in air-conditioned spaces.

One of the common challenges in addressing public health crises is the cycle of panic and neglect. Societies often forget the lessons of past crises and are unprepared for the next one. This pattern must be broken when it comes to the heat crisis. Humanity has failed to learn from the lessons of severe heat waves, which is similar to the cycle of panic and neglect that often follows pandemics and other public health crises. Relying on inadequate public health guidelines like drinking more water and staying in air-conditioned spaces is not enough, as the vast majority of the world's population does not have access to these resources.

Governments must accelerate their efforts to build heat resilience and have a national plan to address extreme heat waves. These efforts must include adaptation measures for local communities, focusing on the most vulnerable groups. Housing, transportation, and water infrastructure must be at the forefront of these adaptation efforts, as these sectors are all critical to ensuring that populations can withstand the increasingly intense and frequent heat waves. Addressing the global water crisis is essential to building heat resilience, as hydration is crucial for protection against extreme heat. Additionally, accelerating decarbonization could enable us to reduce the frequency and intensity of extreme heat waves, and pressuring governments and corporations to stop burning fossil fuels is essential for building true heat resilience and improving planetary health.

Moreover, heat preparedness must be integrated into health policies and the education and training of medical professionals. Disease surveillance systems must be updated to account for heat-related illnesses, and the clinical management of these conditions must be prioritized in the curriculum. Researchers, too, have a crucial role to play in understanding the effectiveness of heat-related policies and interventions. By focusing not just on the epidemiology of heat but also on the impact of our actions, we can develop more effective strategies to protect human health and well-being in the face of a warming world.