Earth has ‘a fever that won’t break’
Scientists: June’s average temperature hottest on record going back to 1880
The heat goes on: Earth sizzled to its hottest June on record as the climate keeps going to extremes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday announced that June averaged 60.6 degrees Fahrenheit, about 1.7 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
It beat out 2016 for the hottest June with records going back to 1880. NASA and other groups also concluded that last month was the hottest June on record.
Europe shattered June temperature records by far, while other records were set in Russia, Africa, Asia and South America. France had its hottest month in history, which is unusual because July is traditionally hotter than June. The Lower 48 states in America were near normal.
“Earth is running a fever that won’t break
thanks to climate change,” North Carolina state climatologist Kathie Dello said in an email. “This won’t be the last record warm summer month that we will see.”
It seems likely that July too will be a record hot month, said Berkeley Earth climate scientist Robert Rohde.
The United States set a record for most precipitation. The 12-month period from July 2018 to June 2019 was the wettest on record.
The first half of 2019 is tied with 2017 for the second hottest initial six months of the year, behind 2016. So far the year is 1.7 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
This heat “is what we can expect to see with a warming climate,” said Freja Vamborg, a climate scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service in Europe.
Around the nation Thursday, public housing officials in Chicago were planning well-being checks on residents as the heat and humidity are expected to mount to dangerous levels as part of a wave of sweltering weather covering a substantial portion of the U. S.
Excessive heat warnings were posted Thursday by the National Weather Service from central Nebraska and Missouri into western Ohio and parts of West Virginia. An excessive heat watch was put in place for the Cleveland area, part of New York state and parts of the East Coast.
Temperatures topping 100 degrees were expected for the southern and central High Plains.
Ambulances in Oklahoma’s two largest metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City and Tulsa have responded to more than 40 heat-related calls since Tuesday, most in the late afternoon as the temperature peaks.
“We’ve had people who have been walking,” said Emergency Medical Services Authority spokesman Adam Paluka in Tulsa. “We’ve had people who have been gardening. It doesn’t matter how much you’re doing or how little you’re doing, the heat can still affect you.”
At Cook County Health in Chicago, staff has been placed on call and operational meetings are being held with emergency room leaders, said Dr. Trevor Lewis, interim chair of the health system’s emergency medicine department.
“We have a lot of festivals in the city over the weekend. We make appropriate plans for that,” said Lewis, adding that informing people how to take precautions during extreme heat is the best precaution.
Some intravenous fluids that normally are kept at room temperature at Detroit’s Receiving Hospital are being cooled down and fans are being taken out of storage to be more readily available, said Rob Klever, emergency department medical director.
Heat exhaustion and heatstroke are the primary health issues emergency rooms could see through Saturday. Both can occur after temperatures hit 80 degrees or the humidity rises above 75%, according to Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis.
Heatstroke can lead to permanent brain damage and death if not treated promptly, said Dr. Tyler Stepsis, medical director of the Michael & Susan Smith Emergency Department at Eskenazi Health.
“Spending too much time in high temperatures and elevated humidity conditions, along with dehydration, may create an extremely dangerous situation where the core body temperature exceeds 104 degrees Fahrenheit,” Stepsis said.
The coming heat already has caused a free Saturday evening concert at a public park in Toledo, Ohio, to be rescheduled and the Thursday night cancellation of a musical, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” at a park amphitheater in Normal, Illinois.
A half- marathon, 10K and 5K running event is expected to be held Saturday at Hoffman Estates, northwest of Chicago.
“Our race does start early in the day because July is hot,” said Peter Starykowicz, president of All Community Events. “The weather is 85, 90, 95 degrees. It’s all hot. Half of our runners are done by 8:30 a.m. CT.”
Ice will be available at course water stations and water misting tents will be put up. Hoffman Estates fire personnel and ambulances will be on hand and medical personnel will be stationed at the finish line, Starykowicz added.
“The accomplishment is running a race in hot weather ... not going a million miles an hour,” he said. “At the end of the day we gotta make sure what we’re doing is safe.”