Record High
EDITOR’S NOTE
As carbon emissions rise, communities across the globe are dealing with increasingly severe and frequent bouts of extreme temperatures. Scientists have observed an eightfold increase in record-breaking hot months over the past decade, and at any given time, extreme heat is now affecting about one-tenth of the Earth’s land area. Some 8 million Americans were exposed to “extreme danger” temperatures last year alone, defined by the National Weather Service as a heat index of more than 125 degrees Fahrenheit. By 2053, that number is expected to rise to 107 million.
These scorching temperatures are impacting public health, drought, agriculture, infrastructure, equity, ecosystems, and much more. But there are also innovative solutions, policies, and technologies being tested to adapt to this hotter future. Follow Grist as it delves into all aspects of extreme heat — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
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Extreme Heat 101: Your guide to staying safe and keeping cool
This story is part of Record High, a Grist series examining extreme heat and its impact on how — and where — we live.
As the days get shorter and kids head back to school, it may seem like the worst of summer heat is over. But the thermometer tells a different story: Last week saw dangerous heat domes descend over both the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, and it’s late summer that often brings the most sizzling weeks of the season — last year, parts of the West experienced their hottest September on record. And climate scientists agree: Our summers are only going to get hotter from here.
To that end, Grist asked a dozen experts for their best tips, tricks, and hacks when it comes to keeping ourselves, our loved ones, and our surroundings safe in an extreme heat event.
To share these tips with your network, click a card below, or follow us on Intagram @Grist.
Extreme Heat Newsletter
Why we need to sweat
Hello, welcome to Record High. I’m Kate Yoder, a staff writer at Grist, and today, we’re looking at how sweating can help us cope with climate change.
It is embarrassing to be a sweaty person. I remember making my way to the podium to give a speech at my sixth-grade graduation, my feet squelching audibly in flip-flops with every step; taking a test and noticing the warped paper beneath my moist hand; standing up from a plastic chair and hoping no one noticed the sweaty butt print I left behind. So it came as a relief to learn that sweating was actually good for something.
Once I learned that the science journalist Sarah Everts wrote a book called The Joy of Sweat, I knew that I had to talk to her. Everts makes the case that perspiration is a human superpower, a gift for enduring sweltering temperatures. “I think it’s funny that humans have this enormous taboo about a biological function that’s ultimately going to help us survive climate change,” she told me.
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![Wall mounted air-conditioning units adorning a building in Hong Kong]()
![Wall mounted air-conditioning units adorning a building in Hong Kong]()
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How climate change is fueling alcohol-related hospitalizations
A new study in New York found that hospital visits from alcohol-related disorders spike along with temperatures.
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![A thermometer reads 42 degrees Celsius during a rare winter heat wave in Brazil.]()
![A thermometer reads 42 degrees Celsius during a rare winter heat wave in Brazil.]()
Winter just ended in South America. It’s 110 degrees.
The unseasonal heat in Brazil is bad news for the world's supply of coffee and soybeans.
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![illustration of person with hair in bun from behind, wiping large sweat droplets off the back of their neck]()
![illustration of person with hair in bun from behind, wiping large sweat droplets off the back of their neck]()
Will sweat help us survive climate change?
It's gross. It's sticky. And it's already saved your life.
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![bleached corals]()
![bleached corals]()
It’s not just coral. Extreme heat is weakening entire marine ecosystems in Florida.
Anemones, sponges, and jellyfish are bleaching throughout the Everglades amid record temperatures. It's a troubling sign for Florida Bay and beyond.
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![Digital collage of woman sleeping with an orange circle and red circle above her]()
![Digital collage of woman sleeping with an orange circle and red circle above her]()
Is it time for the world to take a siesta?
An idea from the past could provide a way to cope with extreme heat.
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![A groundworker is seen driving a baggage cart heaped with luggage toward a jet parked on the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.]()
![A groundworker is seen driving a baggage cart heaped with luggage toward a jet parked on the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.]()
The fight for worker safety protection heats up at the Phoenix airport
People laboring in brutal temperatures want OSHA to investigate conditions that leave them vulnerable to heat illness and exhaustion.
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![A hiker finishes her hike early to beat high temperatures on Monday, July 10, 2023 in Phoenix. The city experienced 110 degree F temperatures for a month straight this summer.]()
![A hiker finishes her hike early to beat high temperatures on Monday, July 10, 2023 in Phoenix. The city experienced 110 degree F temperatures for a month straight this summer.]()
The end of summer vacation
With scorching temperatures, are we losing our ability to have fun in the sun?
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Parts of the world have already grown too hot for human survival
Even more areas will face such conditions as the planet continues to warm from fossil fuel combustion.
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![A person kneels beneath a tree as the sun dips below the horizon after a hot day in Missouri.]()
![A person kneels beneath a tree as the sun dips below the horizon after a hot day in Missouri.]()
The planet just sizzled through the hottest summer on record
Scientists have long warned that scorching summers — marked by heat waves, freak storms, and drought — could become the norm.
