Is indoor summer the new normal? Climate change causes scorching heat across America

For millions of Americans, rising global temperatures have transformed summer, forcing them to spend more and more time each year in air-conditioned spaces, isolated from the sweltering outdoor air.

For Akshay Govind, an oral surgeon who lives in Oakland, Calif., his annual family summer vacation at Lake Chelan in central Washington was marked this year by two hallmarks of climate change: wildfires and extreme heat.

“Depending on the direction of the winds, we had over 100 degrees of heat, smoke from a fire or both. This has really limited our outdoor activities,” Govind told Yahoo News.

Wildfires, some sparked by fireworks set off on the Fourth of July, have caused air quality in the North Cascade Mountains to plummet and triple-digit temperatures have made containing the flames an even greater challenge. The result was that a normally relaxing vacation spent hiking and swimming was transformed into an indoor retreat where the fear of encroaching flames was ever-present.

“Between, say, 9am and 7pm, it was too hot to stay outside for more than 10 minutes,” Govind said, adding that the wooded lodge where his family stayed was “so remote that the fire department couldn’t get there.” if there’s a fire, then we’re trained on how to use fire hoses.”

Getting hot here

Although summer is the hottest season in the Northern Hemisphere, it has gotten even hotter thanks to climate change. In every decade since the 1960s, heat waves have become more frequent, last longer and cause higher temperatures, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Between 1971 and 2000, average summer temperatures increased by 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit in the U.S. and 2.7 degrees in much of the West.

These unwelcome developments have left many residents struggling to adapt to the new summer normal.

“Last summer it was too hot to walk during the day and we soon discovered it wasn’t much better at night!” Jennifer Frogerson, a customer service representative for a clothing company in Austin, Texas, talked about the outings she used to take with her partner. “I have a private pool in my condo and last summer I couldn’t even stand being there, especially when the humidity is high or triple-digit temperatures hit. I must have been to the pool three times last summer,” she said.

Health hazards and new routines

Long periods of exposure to extreme heat are particularly harmful to human health and, on average, more than 1,300 Americans die each year due to heat-related illnesses. The body has to work harder when it’s hot to keep its organs at cooler temperatures. This puts a strain on the cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of heart attack and kidney failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With summers getting hotter, this has left many Americans looking for new summer routines that don’t involve leaving the house. Summer camps and summer classes were canceled this year in places like Portland, Oregon. high school football season it has been postponed in states like Texas due to the health risks to players. Outdoor music festivals were canceled in places like Alexandria, Virginia, due to heat emergencies. While citizens in cities like Phoenix have already been forced to transition to summer routines that limit time spent outdoors or indoors without air conditioning, that trend is spreading to other parts of the country.

“As a teacher, I am off for the summer and don’t venture out unless necessary due to the heat,” Cleveland educator Tammi Minoski told Yahoo News. “It affects me, making me sick and giving me headaches.”

In recent years, this has led to a proliferation of articles with titles like “45 Fun Indoor Activities and Things to Do on a Hot Day,” It is “How to exercise your dog when it’s too hot to go outside.” Climate scientists have warned that unless humans stop burning fossil fuels, people can expect global temperatures to continue to rise.

“For those who doubted the reality of climate change 20-25 years ago, fewer reasonable people can do so now,” said Govind.