Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
People Are Dying, Receiving Second-Degree Burns From Extreme Heat
NBC News: Record-Breaking Heat Wave Is Causing Second-Degree Burns And Heat Exhaustion
Emergency workers in Arizona and Nevada reported an uptick in cases of contact burns as temperatures spiked into the triple digits, and have remained high for weeks on end. The burns typically occur when people fall or pass out on sun-scorched pavement and other hot surfaces. During intense heat waves, as has been unfolding across the Southwest, even being in contact with these surfaces for short periods of time can do serious damage, said Dr. Kara Geren, an emergency medicine physician at Valleywise Health in Phoenix. (Chow, McLaughlin and Parra, 7/20)
Axios: Metro Phoenix Has Confirmed 18 Heat Deaths So Far
As of July 15, at least 18 people had died of heat-associated causes in metro Phoenix, and another 69 suspected heat deaths are under investigation, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. Phoenix is in the midst of a historically long heat wave with no end in sight. (Boehm, 7/20)
AP: Homes Become 'Air Fryers' In Phoenix Heat, People Ration AC Due To Cost
Temperatures have peaked at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) the entire month of July in Phoenix. Air conditioning, which made modern Phoenix even possible, is a lifeline. When a cloudless sky combines with outdoor temperatures over 100 F, your house turns into an “air fryer” or “broiler,” as the roof absorbs powerful heat and radiates it downward, said Jonathan Bean, co-director of the Institute for Energy Solutions at the University of Arizona. Bean knows this not only from his research, he also experienced it firsthand this weekend when his air conditioner broke. (O'Malley, 7/20)
Extreme heat may linger, and affect you if you're vacationing in Europe —
Axios: U.S. Heat Wave Sees Historic High, Overnight Low Temperatures
The "dangerous, long-lived, and record-breaking heat wave is set to continue in the U.S. Southwest "well into next week" and spread to more southern states by the weekend, the National Weather Service warns. Over 123 million people were under heat alerts in the U.S. Friday morning, as health officials report a spike in callouts and Emergency Department visits due to the extreme weather. (Falconer, 7/21)
NPR: El Niño Will Likely Last Into 2024, And More Heat Is Coming
More hot weather is expected for much of the United States in the coming months, federal forecasters warn, driven by a combination of human-caused climate change and the El Niño climate pattern. El Niño is a cyclic climate phenomenon that brings warm water to the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and leads to higher average global temperatures. El Niño started in June. Today, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that El Niño will continue through March 2024. (Hersher, 7/20)
The New York Times: NOAA Confirms June Was Earth’s Hottest On Record
Last month was the planet’s warmest June since global temperature record-keeping began in 1850, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its monthly climate update on Thursday. The agency also predicts unusually hot temperatures will occur in most of the United States, almost everywhere except the northern Great Plains, during August. The first two weeks of July were also likely the Earth’s warmest on human record, for any time of year, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. (Erdenesanaa, 7/20)
Also —
KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What The Health?' Podcast: Let’s Talk About The Weather
2023 will likely be remembered as the summer Arizona sizzled, Vermont got swamped, and nearly the entire Eastern Seaboard, along with huge swaths of the Midwest, choked on wildfire smoke from Canada. Still, none of that has been enough to prompt policymakers in Washington to act on climate issues. (Rovner, 7/20)
