Want to save lives? Name heat waves like hurricanes, experts say.
By Shannon Osaka on Aug 5, 2020
Last summer, a monstrous heat wave descended on the United States. It claimed four lives in Maryland, one in Arizona, and one in Arkansas. Temperatures skyrocketed, with heat indexes — the measure of how hot it feels outside — reaching between 100 and 122 degrees F in some parts of the country. Power outages wreaked havoc on the residents of New York City and Washington, D.C., who were left sweating in their homes.
That heat wave caused fatalities on par with many of the named hurricanes that circulate in the Gulf of Mexico. But unlike hurricanes — the worst of which carry memorable household names like Harvey, Sandy, or Maria — the July 2019 heat wave went nameless.
Now, as triple-digit heat waves set records around the country and around the world, a group of health experts, climate scientists, and policymakers are trying to give them names and rankings, just like hurricanes. In doing so, they hope to remind the public that extreme temperatures aren’t just an excuse to go to the beach — they can also be fatal.
https://grist.org/climate/want-to-save-lives-name-heat-waves-like-hurricanes-experts-say/
