Over half of the United States has not been a stranger to a blistering heat wave sweeping across the country this summer. Public health officials have clarified that this extreme heat is not just a phenomenon of moderate discomfort but a health crisis resulting from human environmental neglect.
Age is often overlooked as a vulnerable population for heat-related illness. As the human body ages and its systems do not function as efficiently, its ability to regulate temperature weakens, thus increasing its susceptibility to dehydration, heat exhaustion, and stroke.
From farmhands and landscapers to construction crews, outdoor laborers are consistently exposed to high temperatures and rarely have alternative ways of obtaining income. Heat is now the leading weather-related killer among U.S. workers.
To protect vulnerable communities from the rising threat of extreme heat, three key solutions stand out: establishing national heat standards for susceptible occupations, expanding access to public cooling centers, and strengthening the overall U.S. national power grid.