By J. Besl , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: CalHeatScore creates heat wave warnings for every zip code in California, using temperature data, socioeconomic indicators, and the history of emergency room visits, to predict heat-related health risk....  Full article at https://eos.org/articles/new-tool-maps-the-overlap-of-heat-and-health-in-california . 

By Grace van Deelen , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: Sixty-seven extreme heat events have occurred since May 2024. All of these events—including a deadly Mediterranean heat wave in July 2024, an unprecedented March 2025 heat wave in central Asia, and extreme heat in South Sudan in February 2025—broke temperature records, caused major harm to people or property, or did both. According to  a new analysis , each of these extreme events was made more likely by climate change. The number of days with extreme heat is now at least double what it would have been without climate change in 195 countries and territories. Climate change added at least an extra month of extreme heat in the past year for 4 billion people—half the world’s population....  Full article at https://eos.org/articles/climate-change-made-extreme-heat-days-more-likely .

By Warren Cornwall , Science.  Excerpt: During a heat wave, many people seek relief by sitting in front of a fan. But public health agencies warn that if it’s too hot, the blowing air can actually make things worse by acting like a convection oven—and they differ on that threshold. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends not using a fan at  temperatures above 32.2°C . Others, including the city of Phoenix, give higher thresholds, and the World Health Organization (WHO) puts the  limit at 40°C . New research from two different groups of thermal physiologists favors the higher temperature limits, especially in humid weather. But the groups don’t agree on a single temperature threshold. One study,  published on 6 November  in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), reports that fans can relieve stress on the heart in elderly people in humid conditions at 38°C. The other,  published on 17 October  in JAMA, co...

By Dionne Searcey , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Large parts of the nation were boiling this week as temperatures climbed in Maine and other areas that are not accustomed to mid-June heat waves. In many cities, residents cooled off in shady parks, jumped in public pools, or hydrated with cold water handed out by paramedics and police officers stationed at busy intersections or inside public transportation hubs — all tactics health officials encourage to help avoid heat-related illnesses. These kinds of strategies are common in countless cities because they are effective in areas with large populations. In more rural areas, however, people are far more spread out and much harder to reach. “We’re missing a large swath of our society, and a swath that typically has higher levels of chronic disease, older populations and lower income,” said Kevin Lanza, an assistant professor of environmental science at UTHealth Houston in Austin. “All three are factors increasing the serious risk on...

By Coral Davenport  and  Noah Weiland , The New York Times.  Excerpt: For more than two years, a group of health experts, economists and lawyers in the U.S. government has worked to address a growing public health crisis: people dying on the job from extreme heat. In the coming months, this team of roughly 30 people at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to propose a new rule that would require employers to protect an estimated 50 million people exposed to high temperatures while they work. They include  farm laborers and construction workers , but also people who sort packages in warehouses, clean airplane cabins and cook in commercial kitchens. ...Last year was the hottest in recorded history, and researchers are expecting another record-breaking summer, with temperatures already rising sharply across the Sun Belt. The heat index in Miami  reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit  last weekend, shattering daily records by 11 degrees. ...An...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/03/19/the-heat-index-how-hot-it-feels-is-rising-faster-than-temperature By Robert Sanders , Berkeley News.  Excerpt: Texans have long endured scorching summer temperatures, so a global warming increase of about 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 Celsius) might not sound like much to worry about. But a new study concludes that the heat index — essentially how hot it really feels — has increased much faster in Texas than has the measured temperature: about three times faster. That means that on some extreme days, what the temperature feels like is between 8 and 11 F (5 to 6 C) hotter than it would without climate change. The study, using Texas data from June, July and August of 2023, highlights a problem with communicating the dangers of rising temperatures to the public. The temperature alone does not accurately reflect the heat stress people feel. Even the heat index itself, which takes into account the relative humidity and thus the capacity to cool off by sw...