With summer just beginning, millions of Americans are under extreme heat alerts, with temperatures often topping 40°C. The episode also affects part of New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and northern Florida.
Global warming is responsible for the multiplication and intensification of heat waves in the world, scientists have been hammering for years.
“This heat wave is more intense, more widespread, and probably also longer” than it would have been without the impact of human activities, said Andrew Pershing, vice president in charge of science for the NGO. ClimateCentral. Preliminary analysis by this organization determined that current temperatures were made at least five times more likely by climate change.
In Houston, the fourth largest city in the country with 2.3 million inhabitants, refreshment centers have been opened so that the fragile can take refuge there. In New Orleans, Louisiana, a heat alert was issued from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. local.
“Some places in Texas have temperatures that have been above 37°C for more than two weeks, which is very unusual for this time of year, even in an area used to heat,” said Andrew Pershing. “What particularly worries us is that because it started so early, people’s physiology had not yet adapted to the heat,” added the scientist, noting that the first heat waves of the year are usually the most deadly.
Insolations
“Drink plenty of water, stay in rooms with air conditioning, shade, and check on your family and neighbors,” the US Weather Services (NWS) said, calling the conditions “dangerously hot.”
A homeless person tries to cool off in Miami.
AFP
The small Texas town of Del Rio, on the border with Mexico, broke its heat record for eight consecutive days, reaching around 43 ° C on Sunday, according to local weather services. At the end of last week, in the south of the state, Big Bend National Park announced the death of two people who went hiking when it was 48°C. A 14-year-old lost consciousness and died, along with his father, in a car accident as he left to seek help.
Several thousand dead fish were discovered on Texas beaches last Saturday. According to scientists, these massive deaths are explained by a lack of oxygen in the water linked to its high temperature.#safetypromo #Texas #Pisces
🎥 Darrel Schoppe pic.twitter.com/ZQbulUHbqP— SAFETY PROMO (@safety_promo) June 19, 2023
Animals also suffer from the heat: twelve cats and a dog were found dead in an abandoned apartment, according to the Houston Humane Society.
Vicious circle of “air conditioning”
The agency in charge of managing most of the electricity grid in Texas, Ercot, warned that the demand for energy was higher due to the heat, but said it expected to be able to cope.
“Air conditioning can literally save lives,” said Kristina Dahl of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “But if we don’t run this air conditioning with renewable energy, we contribute to releasing more emissions into the atmosphere, which will further increase the heat”.
This is a real “challenge”, she judged, especially since few people on the planet are equipped with air conditioning today, but that its use should “skyrocket in the coming decades. “.
According to her, the current heat wave in the south of the country is emblematic: “it is exactly what to expect in a warming world. »
2023-06-27 20:25:38
#United #States #southern #states #dangerous #heat #wave
