Record High
EDITOR’S NOTE
As carbon emissions rise, communities across the globe are dealing with increasingly severe and frequent bouts of extreme temperatures. Scientists have observed an eightfold increase in record-breaking hot months over the past decade, and at any given time, extreme heat is now affecting about one-tenth of the Earth’s land area. Some 8 million Americans were exposed to “extreme danger” temperatures last year alone, defined by the National Weather Service as a heat index of more than 125 degrees Fahrenheit. By 2053, that number is expected to rise to 107 million.
These scorching temperatures are impacting public health, drought, agriculture, infrastructure, equity, ecosystems, and much more. But there are also innovative solutions, policies, and technologies being tested to adapt to this hotter future. Follow Grist as it delves into all aspects of extreme heat — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Featured
How to build a heat-resilient city
Grist designed a model metropolis for an era of high temperatures, using the coolest technology available.
Extreme Heat Newsletter
Wall mounted air-conditioning units adorn a building in Hong Kong.
The heat gap
Hello, and welcome to the last issue of Record High. I’m Zoya Teirstein, and today, we’re going to talk about the elephant in the room: heat inequity.
In his book Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History, the physician and medical anthropologist Paul Farmer explains, unflinchingly, why the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak killed more than 11,000 Africans while almost every single Westerner who contracted the illness survived. The difference between life and death came down to, quite simply, access. In clinics in Guinea, Libera, and Sierra Leone, equipment and fluids that would have saved countless lives were nonexistent. A few simple interventions would have made all the difference. “How many of these deaths were caused more by the virulence of social conditions than by the virulence of the pathogen?” Farmer asked.
I was reminded of Farmer’s book recently while interviewing a researcher about an unrelated topic, a study on the temperature thresholds at which the human body can no longer keep itself cool. That researcher, a scientist at the University of Oxford, found that parts of the world have already become too hot for hum... Read more
All stories
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![People using umbrellas and parasols to seek relief from the heat while crossing a street in Tokyo.]()
![People using umbrellas and parasols to seek relief from the heat while crossing a street in Tokyo.]()
Extreme heat is here. Can insurance help protect us?
Heat insurance products are popping up around the world to protect outdoor workers and heat stroke victims.
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![A volunteer hands out water to a person experiencing homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona, during a relentless, record-breaking heat wave in July 2023.]()
![A volunteer hands out water to a person experiencing homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona, during a relentless, record-breaking heat wave in July 2023.]()
31 days at 110 degrees: Record heat tests Phoenix’s limits
"Even if you're born and raised here, and you're used to dealing with the heat, it's still very hot and very dangerous."
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![A FEMA representative surveys a woman about heat and power availability in a New York City neighborhood damaged during Hurricane Sandy.]()
![A FEMA representative surveys a woman about heat and power availability in a New York City neighborhood damaged during Hurricane Sandy.]()
Why FEMA doesn’t respond to heat waves
The federal government doesn't treat extreme heat the way it treats hurricanes and wildfires.
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As heat strikes, so do workers
A growing number of people who have no choice but to work in the heat are demanding greater protection.
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![orange skies and shadows]()
![orange skies and shadows]()
July has been the hottest month in humanity’s history
The heat has claimed lives from Arizona to Greece to China.
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![A mother holds a daughter in front of a fan on a street in New York City during a heat wave.]()
![A mother holds a daughter in front of a fan on a street in New York City during a heat wave.]()
Report: 41 million Americans are simmering on urban heat islands
New research says reducing paved surfaces and increasing green space could cool cities down.
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![A farmworker in a field wearing a large tan hat, red top and yellow overalls is kneeling and picking greens in front of the smoggy horizon.]()
![A farmworker in a field wearing a large tan hat, red top and yellow overalls is kneeling and picking greens in front of the smoggy horizon.]()
Why extreme heat is so deadly for workers
A combination of high temperatures and high humidity is making it increasingly unsafe for those who work outdoors.
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A hotter, sicker world
El Niño, combined with climate change, will lead to a spike in mosquito-borne illnesses, tick-borne illnesses, and bacterial disease.
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![A young woman carrying a parasol walks past an electric fan blowing cool mist over a sidewalk in Rome as temperatures reach 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).]()
![A young woman carrying a parasol walks past an electric fan blowing cool mist over a sidewalk in Rome as temperatures reach 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).]()
Heat storms turn Southern Europe into ‘giant pizza oven’
Millions brace for more record-setting heat as temperatures climb further into the triple digits.
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![A line of UPS workers in brown uniforms walking along a sidewalk, holding signs that say]()
![A line of UPS workers in brown uniforms walking along a sidewalk, holding signs that say]()
340,000 UPS drivers poised to strike over extreme heat, safe working conditions
The largest single-employer strike in U.S. history could frame worker power as a climate solution.
