As temperatures rise to record levels in places like Texas' Rio Grande Valley, chronic health problems like diabetes put many people at greater risk of heat-related deaths.
What's happening?
Brownsville, Texas, has experienced its five hottest summers on record since 2018, with residents enduring 40 days of triple-digit heat in 2023, Inside Climate News reported. Not only that, but extreme heat is starting earlier in the year. This stiflingly hot weather resulted in a spike in heat-related illnesses in 2023, according to the publication.
While extreme heat is deadly on its own, the region suffers elevated rates of chronic health problems like diabetes and heart failure, which amplify people's susceptibility.
The news outlet illustrated the problem by telling the story of two elderly siblings and their 60-year-old caretaker who died in their Brownsville apartment in May. Though questions remain, a pathologist attributed their deaths to complications from diabetes and extreme heat — when authorities entered the apartment, the air conditioner was off and the indoor temperature was 88 degrees Fahrenheit.
"It's a tremendous amount of cofactors coming together," said Dr. Ivan Melendez, the health authority for Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley told ICN. "It's just a total nightmare. It's a perfect storm."
Why is extreme heat concerning?
The Rio Grande Valley isn't the only region of the United States grappling with deadly temperatures in recent years. For instance, across the American Southwest, communities are facing abnormally hot summers that are stretching into the fall. Extreme heat led to at least 339 deaths in Arizona's Maricopa County in 2023. And Las Vegas suffered its most extreme heat wave in history during the summer of 2024.
Plus, the ICN article points out that those deaths in Brownsville highlight another problem associated with rising global temperatures: a disproportionate impact on the elderly. Meanwhile, Texas hospitals reported a nearly threefold increase in children's ER visits for heat-related illness in recent years.
Heat waves don't just endanger human lives, however. They can also threaten our food supply. For example, one study asserts that agricultural productivity will drop significantly by the end of the century as global temperatures affect farmers' physical abilities to work. Extreme heat can also make it difficult for some crops to grow and even threatens bumblebees, which are important pollinators.
What's being done about extreme heat?
A number of communities are scrambling to come up with solutions to help people deal with rising temperatures. For instance, a number of cities offer cooling centers, where residents without air conditioning can go to beat the heat.
Meanwhile, Phoenix and Los Angeles are trying to bring down temperatures by applying "cooling paint" on city streets. Plus, a new safety tool will help warn communities how dangerous a coming heatwave could be.
Of course, one of the biggest ways we can fight back against worsening heat is by reducing the amount of planet-warming pollution we produce. You can help by making simple changes like taking public transit or enrolling in community solar.
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