A welcome break in the heat — for now, anyway

Watching the rest of the country bake in a heat wave makes Santa Fe’s recent 90-degree high temperatures seem almost pleasant. Yes, it’s a tad hotter than usual here — average highs for July are around 86 degrees — but that’s nothing like the heat and humidity of the East Coast or the sizzling temperatures so common in neighboring Texas or Arizona.

And thankfully, after dark in Santa Fe, the temperatures get chilly enough — even in July — to require a wrap.

Not so elsewhere in the country. What’s more, the heat wave on the East Coast is more than just a seasonal blast of hot air and humidity that makes breathing difficult and days unbearable. What is happening is a

taste of things to come.

In the Atlantic magazine, climate scientist Zeke Hausfather, with Berkeley Earth, told reporter Robinson Meyer that, “July is shaping up to be the warmest July on record — and probably the warmest month every measured, since July is the hottest month of the year.”

Heat waves can be deadly, too. On average, heat waves kill more Americans than other types of weather events. A loss of air conditioning is dangerous, with estimates that more than 50 million Americans live in cities at risk of heat disasters.

Because of air conditioning, more passive strategies — the thermal mass that is found in adobe walls or natural ventilation — have been abandoned, with modern buildings dependent on AC. (For more information about what happens in heat disasters, read “The growing threat of heat disasters” at https://bit.ly/2Z5Rym2. The article, by scientists David Sailor, Amir Baniassadi, Cassandra O’Lenick and Olga Wilhelmi, gives an overview of what a hotter country can expect. The picture is not pretty.

The point of all this is to say that the hot months of July and August likely will keep growing hotter. As Meyer writes, “This is the Bad Season. It means that a heat wave is never just a heat wave, but a symptom of a larger problem and a warning about what’s to come.”

In the meantime, make sure pets have plenty of water. Keep them indoors and out of locked cars. Make sure children wear sunscreen, hats and have plenty of water to drink. Don’t have air conditioning? Afternoon movies are inexpensive, as is a trip to the mall or library. Drink lots of water yourself. Remember water conservation rules: No outside watering between 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. inside city limits and recommended just three days a week.

If the forecast proves correct, those of us in Santa Fe will receive a much-welcome respite Monday — the high is predicted at a lusciously cool 79 degrees, with showers possible through a cooler week ahead. It’s a welcome break, to be sure. We will enjoy the shift in temperature, all the while knowing that heat is in our future.

The Bad Season is about to get longer, hotter and deadlier.