| | | | | Welcome. This week, frilled lizards and surfing sea otters. But first, why Fahrenheit no longer measures up. |  | | Searing heat is pummeling the globe this week. China reached an all-time high above 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Phoenix endured its second week at or above 110 degrees. At least 86 million people were at risk of dangerous heat in the United States this week. But these numbers don't tell the whole story. A different scale is needed to convey the impact of these sweltering conditions on the human body: the heat index. It measures how hot it feels by factoring in humidity in addition to air temperature. Humidity matters because your body can't cool itself well when sweat stops evaporating. On Sunday, Iran's heat index reached a remarkable 152 degrees, a value that is off the charts, literally — the heat index scale tops out around 136 degrees. Air temperatures rose above 100 degrees while humidity neared saturation. This approaches and perhaps exceeds the most intense temperatures the human body can withstand. And that's in the shade. If working under the sun, most people succumb at far lower temperatures. So far, these conditions have only occurred sporadically around the world, in small areas and for a few hours. But the number of those incidents is expected to soar. Millions of people could be exposed to heat and humidity "rarely if ever experienced before by humans" as the globe warms, say scientists. The toll is already staggering. In Europe, 61,000 people died in a heat wave last summer. In the United States, where heat is already the leading weather-related killer, hundreds die each year, especially the elderly, reports the Environmental Protection Agency. But healthy adults are not exempt: At least 17 U.S. soldiers have died of heat-related illness since 2008. In 2021, a young family with an infant hiking in California died of heat exposure just a mile or so from their car after temperatures reached 109 degrees. For most of us, our idea of what constitutes dangerous heat no longer applies. If you're among the millions suffering through one of the worst heat waves on record, be careful. You can see the National Weather Service's heat index scale here. |  |  | Field Sample The Australian frilled lizard avoids fires by running up to high perches in trees. But climate change is intensifying Australia's bush fires, threatening the lizards' ability to escape the flames even in the highest canopies, reports Dino Grandoni in Animalia, The Washington Post's column exploring the animal world. | | The threat display of the frilled lizard. (David Fleetham/VW PICS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) | | So biologists are racing to understand whether wildlife, from marsupials to beetles, can keep up with fiercer fires. "The big question is, can species adapt quickly enough," says Gavin Jones, an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service. Take a look at other animals that evolved to deal with wildfires — and the challenges ahead as Earth enters the Pyrocene. | Snapshot Even desert dwellers accustomed to scorching summers are struggling as temperatures soar well above 100 degrees in the Southwest. In a scene replicated worldwide, a man cools off July 13 in a misting system along the Las Vegas Strip. | | The scene in Las Vegas this month. | | See more images of how people around the world are coping with the heat here. |  | The Second Degree Leaded airplane fuel is poisoning a new generation of Americans. For some communities within a mile or two of America's 20,000 or so civil airports, the lead contamination may rival that of Flint, Mich. After reading my last newsletter, many of you asked who to contact with your concerns. I contacted Marcie Keever of the nonprofit organization Friends of the Earth. She is leading a campaign against leaded aviation fuel. She recommends sending a message to your representative (you can find their email here) or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at engage@dot.gov asking them to remove Section 620 of the Senate's Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, which would allow airports to continue selling leaded aviation gas. Ann, meanwhile, asked how to respond to a friend who says wind turbines are a waste of money because they are only 30 percent efficient. Well, it's true wind turbines are "only" 20 to 40 percent efficient at converting the wind's energy into electricity. But guess what? Coal power plants are about 30 to 40 percent efficient. More importantly, the "fuel" for turbines (wind) is free and abundant. A more interesting metric is the cost per kilowatt hour. Since you only pay for wind turbines once, wind energy is cheaper and more cost-efficient, on average, than most other forms of fossil fuel energy. |  | On the Climate Front From The Post: Amara Strande, who succumbed to cancer, died fighting "forever chemicals" that persist near her school in Oakdale, Minn., reports Amudalat Ajasa. The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East, pushing the limit of human survival. How to sleep better during the heat wave without blasting the AC. A sea otter is commandeering surfboards in Santa Cruz, Calif. The Anthropocene is rewriting Hollywood scripts through movies like "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie." From elsewhere: Missy Sims is suing Big Oil for climate damages under a law designed to crack down on organized crime, reports the New York Times. Lab-grown chicken is coming to supermarkets after it got final approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says MIT Tech Review. Why you should read The Deluge, a 900-page novel about the climate crisis, according to Wired's "Have a Nice Future" podcast. Can we deliver affordable housing and climate action simultaneously? Green banks hold an answer, argues the Conversation. |  | | We ventured into the wilds of the high Sierras with Miska and the little one this weekend. Any guesses about where we ended up? | | Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get The Climate Coach in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. See you next Tuesday, Michael Coren, Climate Coach | | | | | | | | |
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