Extreme heat poses a major threat to people around the world, especially in urban areas where the pavement and rooftops heat up more than green spaces do. Now, experts have cautioned that heat is particularly dangerous to people who are isolated, the Guardian reported.
What's happening?
People are vulnerable to heat stroke, which can be life-threatening, when the temperature is high, especially with high humidity. Even heat stress can worsen pre-existing physical ailments.
That makes it even more alarming that the world is heating up so much. Thanks to air pollution that traps heat in the atmosphere, the world is setting records for high temperatures — with a terrifying death toll to match.
In particular, experts are noticing higher death rates among people who live alone and are socially isolated, the Guardian revealed.
Why does it matter if the isolated are most affected?
If social isolation is a risk factor during heat waves, it's essential to that communities stay connected. As New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg put it in a tweet, quoted in the Guardian: "Heat waves are deadly. Cold societies make them far more lethal."
In his 2002 book "Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago," Klinenberg elaborated. "Hundreds died alone behind locked doors and sealed windows that entombed them in suffocating private spaces where visitors came infrequently and the air was heavy and still," he wrote, per the Guardian.
The data backs these conclusions, as reported by the Guardian, and people without anyone to check on them are more likely to die in high temperatures.
That's partly because it can be difficult to tell on your own when you're experiencing heat-related illness symptoms, not just feeling discomfort from the heat.
However, knowing these facts, it's possible to get ahead of the problem.
What's being done about isolated people in heat waves?
So far, several cities have implemented programs to keep people living alone safe in higher temperatures, the Guardian detailed.
New York City's health department started the Be a Buddy program in 2020, where volunteers in low-income neighborhoods pair up with elderly and at-risk neighbors to check on them when it's hot.
Philadelphia has a similar program, where "block captains" check on neighbors. One study showed that, combined with heat alerts and public messaging about a health hotline, the city avoids about 45 deaths per year, the Guardian noted.
During "code red" temperatures, Baltimore reaches out to its population using text, email, and phone messages (and other methods for people without devices). The Guardian detailed how the city also collaborates with local nonprofits, religious organizations, and other groups to give water and other necessities to citizens so they can stay healthy and beat the heat.
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