I'm very lucky right now to live on the northern California coast. For example, today the fog came in and stayed most of the day which meant temperatures didn't get above about 65 degrees mostly all day. Many people live on the northern Coast for this reason, because the hotter it gets inland the more likely it is going to be 55 to 65 degrees high during the days here especially in June or July. So, we don't have air conditioners at all where I live because the highest temperature is usually around 85 on one or two days during the summers. Because as soon as it gets that hot the next day the fog comes in off the ocean and it cools down again. The Redwoods and ferns do well here as a result where it never gets too hot and moist air comes in off the ocean so much year around.
By the way I have had heat prostration and luckily survived it at least 3 times during my life. In the 1950s I often had to drive through 115 degrees sometimes for hours (up to 10) through New Mexico and Arizona and the California deserts without an air conditioner in the car. As a child what I did to survive this was usually I had a wash cloth I could wet my face with and I would stick my head out of the car to stay cool while we drove along at 70 mph. However, after you have done this 40 or 50 times your face would get very chapped but you didn't care because it was better than dying from the heat then without any air conditioning. Most cars in the U.S. didn't have air conditioning until the 1970s and 1980s by the way. So, suffering through the heat in traffic jams was pretty normal growing up in Los Angeles and many people passed out doing this then and ambulances had to be called. Luckily now, more vehicles have air conditioning so less people die or have to be hospitalized like they did then. For most people life in general is much less to do with physical suffering than it was then. Suffering was something people just dealt with more worldwide than now. Being stoic was how most people dealt with it. You either lived or you died so you didn't freak out about injuries and death so much because you could die almost any day from almost anything then much more likely than now worldwide.
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(CNN)Six heat-related deaths have been reported as dangerously high …
Deadly heat wave scorches central and eastern U.S.
Story highlights
- Temperatures close to 100 degrees are expected across dozens of states
- Five elderly Michigan residents died due to record heat and humidity
(CNN)Six
heat-related deaths have been reported as dangerously high temperatures
continue to scorch portions of the Eastern U.S. -- where heat
advisories remain in effect into Monday, according to the National
Weather Service.
Cody Flom, 12,
suffered a fatal heat stroke while hiking at the Sonoran Mountain
Preserve on Friday, where temperatures soared to a sweltering 111
degrees, a Phoenix Fire Dept. spokesperson said Monday.
Heat
indexes well over 100 degrees are expected across dozens of states in
the nation's central and eastern portions, the National Weather Service
forecasts. A heat index, or the "feels like" temperature, combines the
effects of temperature and humidity on the human body.
Temperatures also could reach the century mark Monday afternoon in New York, Philadelphia and Washington.
Heat dome to blame
The
"heat dome," a high pressure system that causes hot air to stay trapped
in the atmosphere, has nearly 114 million people are under excessive
heat watches, warnings and advisories in effect across 27 states, CNN
meteorologist Sean Morris said.
What is a 'heat dome'? 01:10
The
sweltering Midwest weather claimed the lives of a handful of people in
the Detroit area over the course of three days, Roseville Police Chief
James Berlin told CNN.
Five
elderly residents who had underlying health issues died as a result of
the sky-rocketing temperatures, Berlin said. Residents were encouraged
to stay hydrated and find an air-conditioned place to avoid heat
exhaustion or heat stroke.
Detroit police and
firefighters are doing their part to help residents beat the summer
heat. They're offering rides to cooling centers set up at the city's
recreation center and public library and distributing water to
residents.
Heat is one of the country's leading weather-related killers, and each year dozens of Americans die from overexposure to high temperatures, according to The National Weather Service.
Heat stroke can happen very quickly after heat exhaustion settles in.
Hot, dry and breezy conditions across the West Coast have also hampered efforts to contain the rapidly expanding Sand Fire. The fast-growing wildfire, which was only 10% contained Sunday, has consumed more than 33,000 acres.
Warmest half-year on record
Scientists
note the record temperatures across the country could be part of a
long-term global warming phenomenon. Last week NASA announced that every
month in 2016 has been the hottest ever recorded.
Global
temperatures were on average 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.4 degrees
Fahrenheit) higher than average between January and June this year when
compared to the late 19th century, NOAA said.
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