Dangerously High Temperatures Blanket United States, Expected to Last Into Next Week

[inanna]

Source: ABC News

July 23, 2016, 1:11 PM ET

A prolonged heat wave is blanketing much of the United States, with dangerously high temperatures believed to be responsible for at least seven deaths, including that of a 4-year-old girl.

The girl died in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after being left for hours in a hot car as temperatures hit 97 degrees, police told ABC affiliate in Scranton WNEP.

There have also been five heat-related deaths since Wednesday in Roseville, Michigan, where temperatures soared into the high 80s and low 90s. Roseville Fire Chief Mike Holland told the Macomb Daily that five people have died from heart attacks or breathing difficulties, all linked to weather over the past three days.

<snip>

Heat indices over 100 degrees Fahrenheit were felt across the eastern half of the nation today and are expected to go as high as 100 in New York City and to stay above 80 degrees in urban areas tonight, meteorologists said.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/dangerously-high-temperatures-blanket-united-states-expected-week/story?id=40821553

[malthaussen]

1. I'm hip.

95F in Philly now, expected to get worse. The people going to the Convention next week are gonna suffer.

-- Mal

[annavictorious]

2. I'm in New York

It's been miserable here for days. The heat is going to be brutal for protesters in Philly.

[Cracklin Charlie]

9. I saw 106 in Wichita, KS yesterday.

Today, in San Antonio...101.

It's hot.

[Jazzgirl]

22. But not abnormal.

It's hot here in Texas but we are used to it.

[anamandujano]

32. It's somewhat abnormal.

It's been like this for 45-50 days, close to 100 with the humidity pushing the real feel up 10 degrees. Everyone I know is miserable.

I'm always unhappy if I can't get through at least some of my to-do list but today I've accepted it's time to stop. I'm non-functional, sitting here with the ac on, a wet towel on my head and an ice pack on my lap.

[LongTomH]

3. Climate Change and our response is really the most important issue in this election year.....

......even more so than the Supreme Court or reproductive rights.

[Mister Twilight]

15. In the long term, you're right

And maybe not such a long term!

[Delphinus]

24. Welcome to DU Mister Twilight.

Agreed - the term may be a LOT shorter than we imagine.

[Ghost Dog]

40. Think: Immediate Term,

...and also see:

The climate movement made an enormous mistake. We focused all our attention on fossil fuels, when we should have been pointing to something much deeper: the basic logic of our economic operating system. After all, we’re only using fossil fuels in the first place to fuel the broader imperative of GDP growth...

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/jul/15/clean-energy-wont-save-us-economic-system-can

[Arazi]

34. Yup. Yay incrementalism!

[tabasco]

45. The Supreme Court can invalidate environmental laws for decades to come

The Court is equally as important as any issue.

[tandot]

4. It will be over 100 here in Sacramento, probably for 7 more days

[olddad56]

13. well over a 100? It is 99 right now an expected to reach 102. Not exactly well over.

It is Sacramento in July. This in not unusual for Sacramento.

[tandot]

21. I didn't say "well over"

I said it will be over 100. Sadly, I agree, just a normal July here

[Person 2713]

30. And I don't think you guys have high humidity ,which is coming across with this heatwave east

[forest444]

5. A senior citizen friend of mine was just telling me about the (infamous) heat wave of 1980.

He hadn't seen anything like this since then, he said.

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I lived through that with no AC.

It was 110 during the day and still 102 at two in the morning here in KC. Went on for days and days. It was awful. I sprayed my bed down with water several times a night.

Now I have AC so the heat doesn't bother me so much.

[forest444]

12. Lawd have mercy!

The closest I've come to that was the few months I rented a room while in college. My Singaporean landlady rigged the central AC such that no air conditioning ever reached my room (which was on the second floor). I moved out with the help of a mediator so as to avoid having to pay for the whole year, and that was the last time I've rented a room (knock wood).

My father had a heart attack last month, partly due to this heat wave. He's all right; he's always had a strong constitution, and recovered quickly - but no more long walks in the sun!

I ran track in high school, am still in pretty good shape, and I still get these awful headaches walking around in this heat for anything more than 5 minutes. Downright tropical.

[Sand Rat Expat]

25. What kills me is the humidity.

I lived in Arizona for 13 years, and I adapted to 110 degrees with no problem. As long as you're not in direct sunlight, it's really not a big deal. The "It's a dry heat!" saying is true.

Then I moved to Canada. Hooooooooo boy. The first time I stepped off the plane in Toronto, it hurt to breathe. Not so much from pollution (though there's the usual big city pollution) but because the air is so much thicker when you're half a mile lower in elevation.

Just recently here in Hamilton it's been abysmal. Just days and days of sweltering temps with godawful humidity and no rain to break the cycle. You step outside and you're just dripping sweat in minutes, or at least I am. I can deal with heat, but the humidity is just too much.

Weather like this makes me wish fall would hurry it up and get here. Then winter gets here and I'm like "Bring on spring!"

[forest444]

28. We were just discussing the very thing with Jazzgirl.

I lived in Southern California for a decade, moved back East (Virginia) five years ago, and I'm still not used to the humidity - least of all with this heat wave!

[Sand Rat Expat]

36. ^ Picture is accurate, can confirm. Also, great film! NT

[leftyladyfrommo]

39. Rain only makes it worse.

Then it's like walking out into a steam bath.

[Sand Rat Expat]

44. Immediately after the rainfall, yeah.

But it seems like afterward it's not quite as godawful and muggy. Or maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

[Jazzgirl]

23. I remember that one.

It was miserable and few people had a/c. Today a/c is much more common. A lot of people still don't have it or can't afford to get units fixed but a/c is more common.

[forest444]

27. I hear you.

Nothing works like central air, which practically didn't exist until the late 1960s and took a couple of decades to be installed in the majority of U.S. homes (as well as in most other developed countries, I'm sure).

Jimmy Carter, famously, promoted central air by way of tax incentives since, square foot for square foot, they consume a lot less energy than window units. Window units, moreover, are ineffective against humidity.

And having lived in Southern California as well as in several states east of the Mississippi, I can confidently say that it's indeed not the heat that gets you, but the humidity.

The worst part, I think, is the heat of the night. Mercy!

[sailfla]

6. SEN Inhofe "but I'm making snowballs"

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. Bring up the heat on FOX "News" and they'll cut your mic.

[procon]

10. We're frying in the Calif desert where it's 105 degrees and the humidity is only 9%. nt

[killbotfactory]

11. It's all good

[meow2u3]

14. 95 in Nazareth, PA, just outside Bethlehem, PA

Heat index is over 100. I'm not even bothering to go out except early in the morning or after dark. It's oppressive out there; I'm not taking any chances.

[cstanleytech]

16. About the same here with 45% humidity its like a sauna outside. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

17. We had thunderstorms roll through within the past hour in Philly

Dropped the temps out of the mid 90s down to the mid-80s for the delegates here.

Of course rain + heat = STEAM.

[HockeyMom]

18. My daughter posted that her temp in NY

at 8 AM was hotter than mine in South Florida. Well, a few reminders. Since we are closer to the Equator and the Sun is stronger, our temps in Florida can/do rise 10 degrees in just an hour or two after the sun comes up. By Noon on a normal Summer day, it is 90 degrees. This is not just for a few days, but day in, day out for the entire Summer.

I am from the NE and can understand, but just take a few tips from those of us who have these temps/heat indexes for months. Go out early before Noon, keep hydrated, and wear loose, light colored clothing. If you do have AC, this is not the time to try to scrimp and save money. My AC runs round the clock from about May through December.

Take precautions, be safe, and look forward to October. It is not far away and this heat wave for you will pass. Check on your neighbors and the elderly to make sure they are safe. What applies to you, also applies to your Pets. Best Wishes from Florida.

[GreydeeThos]

19. Dangerous Global Warming blankets the globe

Expected to continue until we leave fossil fuels in the ground

[Seeking Serenity]

38. A) It's summertime. It typically gets hot in the summer

B) They're not leaving anything in the ground, sorry.

[Ghost Dog]

41. It's even

Let’s imagine, just for argument’s sake, that we are able to get off fossil fuels and switch to 100% clean energy. There is no question this would be a vital step in the right direction, but even this best-case scenario wouldn’t be enough to avert climate catastrophe.

Why? Because the burning of fossil fuels only accounts for about 70% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The remaining 30% comes from a number of causes. Deforestation is a big one. So is industrial agriculture, which degrades the soils to the point where they leach CO2. Then there’s industrial livestock farming which produces 90m tonnes of methane per year and most of the world’s anthropogenic nitrous oxide. Both of these gases are vastly more potent than CO2 when it comes to global warming. Livestock farming alone contributes more to global warming than all the cars, trains, planes and ships in the world. Industrial production of cement, steel, and plastic forms another major source of greenhouse gases, and then there are our landfills, which pump out huge amounts of methane – 16% of the world’s total.

When it comes to climate change, the problem is not just the type of energy we are using, it’s what we’re doing with it. What would we do with 100% clean energy? Exactly what we are doing with fossil fuels: raze more forests, build more meat farms, expand industrial agriculture, produce more cement, and fill more landfill sites, all of which will pump deadly amounts of greenhouse gas into the air. We will do these things because our economic system demands endless compound growth, and for some reason we have not thought to question this...

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/jul/15/clean-energy-wont-save-us-economic-system-can

[Ghost Dog]

42. It's even more serious than that.

Let’s imagine, just for argument’s sake, that we are able to get off fossil fuels and switch to 100% clean energy. There is no question this would be a vital step in the right direction, but even this best-case scenario wouldn’t be enough to avert climate catastrophe.

Why? Because the burning of fossil fuels only accounts for about 70% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The remaining 30% comes from a number of causes. Deforestation is a big one. So is industrial agriculture, which degrades the soils to the point where they leach CO2. Then there’s industrial livestock farming which produces 90m tonnes of methane per year and most of the world’s anthropogenic nitrous oxide. Both of these gases are vastly more potent than CO2 when it comes to global warming. Livestock farming alone contributes more to global warming than all the cars, trains, planes and ships in the world. Industrial production of cement, steel, and plastic forms another major source of greenhouse gases, and then there are our landfills, which pump out huge amounts of methane – 16% of the world’s total.

When it comes to climate change, the problem is not just the type of energy we are using, it’s what we’re doing with it. What would we do with 100% clean energy? Exactly what we are doing with fossil fuels: raze more forests, build more meat farms, expand industrial agriculture, produce more cement, and fill more landfill sites, all of which will pump deadly amounts of greenhouse gas into the air. We will do these things because our economic system demands endless compound growth, and for some reason we have not thought to question this...

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/jul/15/clean-energy-wont-save-us-economic-system-can

[mrmpa]

20. It as 92 here in western PA.........

I live in a condo, AC is on. My 86 year old mom is on blood thinners, but I tell her it's easier for her to stay (think throws & blankets) than it is for me to stay cool.

I have a married couple down the hall in a one bedroom (mine is a 2 bedroom), they are in their 70's she refuses to put on the AC, her husband was walking the air conditioned hallways yesterday, looking for relief. I've known this woman since I was 10, this is her 2nd marriage, and I love this guy, and it pisses me off that she won't put it on and he has heart issues.

[Sand Rat Expat]

26. Neighbor dude needs to tell the wife to put on a shawl or something.

He shouldn't be sweltering in heat like that if he has heart trouble. Or if she's antsy over the power bill, at least cool the house off overnight so some of it will linger during the day.

My wife and I always battle over the thermostat. My logic is that if you're cold you can always put more on. If you're hot, you can only take off so much and still have company over.

[mrmpa]

29. He's in my unit right now...........

helping me put a new chair in mom's room. He'll get a beer when this task is over.

[Sand Rat Expat]

37. You, sir or madame, are an awesome person.

[Feeling the Bern]

31. MY brother said it was 120 in Tucson last month.

[Person 2713]

33. Good thing this weather sucks but doesn't really affect me going out and the streets and even stores

are empty. Took a walk in the woods preserve that on a weekend should have outdoor enthusiasts
Not too many we had it all to ourselves. 3 water bottles each drip drip in and out
I will go to sleep early
the morning hours dawn to 10 before the heat hits again tomorrow allows for outside work ....unless it rains ....that will bring more humidity

[Skittles]

35. 10 PM, heat index is 100

[Raspol]

43. It's hot

Certainly.