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How heat, wet or dry, affects the body<\/h2>\n
Extreme heat overwhelms our body\u2019s ability to regulate its temperature by sweating. This can lead to heat stress, which has wide-ranging symptoms like cramps, headaches and nausea. The more severe condition of heat stroke occurs when our body temperature rises to 104 degrees. That can affect the brain and potentially cause fainting or death.<\/p>\n \n
All that can happen in dry heat, but the combination of heat and humidity is worse. That\u2019s because humidity prevents our sweat from evaporating enough to cool down. Scientists assess this combination using what\u2019s known as \u201cwet-bulb temperature.\u201d Even when air temperatures are hovering around 80 degrees, humidity can threaten to overheat our bodies.<\/p>\n \n
Climate scientists predict the heat-humidity combo will hit deadly thresholds as the planet warms. Such scenarios have more than doubled since 1979 across the southern United States, a recent study shows. Researchers found parts of Florida and Louisiana along the Gulf of Mexico have among the deadliest mixtures of hot air temperatures and humidity worldwide.<\/p>\n \n
Children, seniors and people with chronic conditions are most at risk for heat-related illnesses. Those experiencing heat-stress symptoms should find a cool place to rest, hydrate and let someone know they\u2019re not feeling well. If symptoms worsen, cover your body in cold, wet towels or ice packs. This can save lives. And, of course, call 911.\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n\n\n\n
The response to the problem in these hotspots is as disparate as the landscape itself. In the desert city of Phoenix, grassroots groups are partnering with government officials to protect low-income Black and Latino residents from the scorching sun, but targeted and long-term solutions have yet to come. In the beachfront city of Fort Pierce, by contrast, local authorities barely recognize the threat of heat and are doing little to nothing about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adrienne Hollis, a researcher at the Union of Concerned Scientists, studies the effects of the changing climate on the health of historically disadvantaged populations. She notes that communities of color are often the hardest hit by extreme heat. According to her calculations, U.S. counties where African Americans or Latinos represent at least a quarter of the population \u2014 most in the South \u2014 have faced more days with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit over a three-decade period: an average of 18 and 13 days per year, respectively, as compared with roughly seven days a year for the rest of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cZIP codes do determine your health,\u201d Hollis said, \u201cand most of that is because of structural racism.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arizona\u2019s 85007 ZIP code, which includes both the predominantly low-income Black and Latino area southwest of downtown and the more affluent, white neighborhood of Encanto Park, had in 2017 the highest rate of heat-related illness in that state. CJI\u2019s analysis of the federal data shows per-capita ER visits and hospitalizations linked to problems such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion and dehydration in this 4.5-square-mile area were nearly 10 times the state\u2019s average. In Florida\u2019s 34950 ZIP code, the majority Black and low-income neighborhood of Lincoln Park where Wilcox lives, residents came to hospitals for these ailments nearly six times more often than the statewide average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n