A Heat Wave, the Coronavirus: Double Spikes of Risk Hit Communities

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/climate/heatwave-coronavirus.html

Source: By John Schwartz, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: For much of the United States, the last several days have been brutal: record temperatures recorded around the country, and coronavirus case numbers are on the rise as well, complicating efforts to protect people at risk. ...Greg Carbin, the chief of the forecast operations branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center, said, “It’s July — you kind of expect this, to some extent. But the magnitude of it is a little severe.” This is the beginning of a summer that NOAA has warned is likely to have many more scorching days. The combination of heat and humidity sent heat indexes in places like central Oklahoma above 115 degrees, and “that is just really dangerous to spend any time outdoors in, unless you’re standing under a cool waterfall somewhere,” Mr. Carbin said, who also noted that the heat index in New Orleans on Monday was 120 degrees. The tremendous heat and moisture can also set the stage for severe weather. “When you have that much energy available for those storms, it can be very dangerous,” he said.... For GSS Climate Change chapter 8.

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