![]() Support for a wide variety of heat-related initiatives is growing both worldwide and in the United States. In fact, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, another founding member of the EHRA, today is publicly announcing his intent to work across the state to name and categorize heat waves in his state. This could perhaps be a driving parameter when a heat wave is given a name. As a general rule, it is issued within twelve hours of the onset of a maximum heat index temperature expected to be 105 degrees or higher for at least two days, with a nighttime temperature that won’t drop below 75 degrees. In the United States, that is an Excessive Heat Warning, as defined by the National Weather Service. A World Meteorological Organization/World Health Organization report on heat-health warning systems (HHWSs) suggests that the highest level of defined heat event calls for community intervention. The same principles can be applied to extreme heat. Tropical storms are now named when they reach a speed of thirty-nine miles per hour and hurricanes are categorized from levels one to five-sounding the alarm for an approaching emergency and triggering preparation of authorities and citizens alike. Short, distinctive names were deemed easier to identify-and much less confusing than the latitude and longitude coordinates previously used by meteorologists-when sharing vital information with the general public about a storm’s track, path, and predicted impact. ![]() ![]() Nearly seventy years ago, the NHC sought to help alert the public to approaching storms and their associated dangers. The Alliance’s first major initiative is to establish a standard practice of naming and categorizing heatwaves worldwide-much the way the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) did in 1953 when it first began to name tropical storms. Comprised of thirty global partners-including the cities of Athens, Chennai, Melbourne, Mexico City, and Tel Aviv the Global Resilient Cities Network Swiss Re IFRC Americas American Forests National Center for Atmospheric Research Bechtel and experts in the fields of public health, climate change risk, and disaster management, among others-the Alliance will work to reduce the impact of extreme urban heat. The Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance (EHRA), whose formation was announced by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center on August 4, will tackle the threat of extreme heat through a range of innovative approaches. To start, we must first formally recognize and elevate awareness of this largely silent killer to a level commensurate with the threat it poses. The snowballing impact of extreme heat makes clear that we must find better ways of managing this challenge. Globally, GDP losses from heat could be greater than 20 percent by century’s end. According to the International Labour Organization, heat stress is projected to reduce total working hours worldwide by 2.2%, and global gross domestic product (GDP) by $2.4 trillion by 2030-with the impact most pronounced in lower-middle- and low-income countries. This double whammy presents a dangerous conundrum likely to continue: those without air conditioning must choose between staying home and risking heat-related illness or venturing out to cool down in a public place and increasing the likelihood of exposure to coronavirus.īeyond the threat to human life, extreme heat is also taking a considerable economic toll. A study of twenty-six counties that endured extreme heat last month revealed twenty-two were also facing surging cases of COVID-19. With hotter than normal temperatures expected to continue, and in a season plagued by the scourge of COVID-19, 2020 is lending new meaning to the definition of a long, hot summer. Three Texas cities have tied or set all-time highs and heat indices have ranged from 115-120 degrees in hotspots like Oklahoma and Louisiana. ![]() In the United States, where extreme heat is the single largest cause of death among natural disasters, hundreds of heat records have already been broken this summer. Temperatures in France, which reached nearly 115 degrees, evoked grim memories of the 2003 heatwave in Europe, which killed at least 35,000 people and potentially as many as 70,000 people, resulting in an estimated 13 billion euros in economic losses. In 2019, a European heat wave shattered records across the continent. The impact of extreme heat is nowhere more apparent than in large cities worldwide, where temperatures can be up to five degrees higher than in nearby areas. While extreme heat is one of the planet’s clearest signals of global warming-last year was the world’s second hottest since 1880-it remains an invisible threat: a “silent killer” lurking in relatively clear view. ![]()
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