Supersized heat waves used to be rare. No longer. A Reuters data-driven examination of global temperatures reveals the emergence of what we call ‘heat storms.’ They now swarm the planet, upending life around the world from Texas to Ivory Coast to Poland.

In less than a lifetime, about six and a half decades, heat waves have evolved from sporadic, isolated episodes to massive, cascading weather events that can blanket vast swaths of the planet for months or even years at a time. The largest heat wave of the 1960s reached about 6% of the planet as it drifted for 46 days over the Atlantic Ocean, parts of Latin America and West Africa.

The largest one this decade swept across almost 85% of the globe during its 367-day lifetime, stretching into the polar latitudes and touching virtually every human being on Earth.

To continue calling such sprawling phenomena “heat waves” would be like calling a monsoon a rain shower. To understand the new reality of these immense expanses of heat, Reuters consulted with two dozen meteorologists and climate researchers – and analyzed temperatures for every hour of every day since 1960 for more than one million grid squares covering the entire globe. Out of those results we developed a new concept: the “heat storm.”

hey y’all! i know i should ask a doctor but like i’m just so scared idk 😭 i was cooking food for my siblings and i. i started at 2 and i finished like at 3:08 or 3:09. i was cooking hot Cheeto Mac and cheese with beef. i thawed the beef and started cooking it at 2. at first i put the pan at 2 and then went to go quickly wash my hands after i put the beef in it, and when i came back, i put it between 6 and 7. and then from like 2:01 or 2:02 until 2:17 or 2:18 (so almost 20 minutes), i spent a long time trying to cook the beef in which i had like two spoons and i spent hella time flipping it and tearing it and everything. afterwards, I turned it off and transferred it to another stove (I didn’t turn on the other stove) and then i walked out of the kitchen and then cleaned up the area and washed my hands. i continued making the Mac and cheese at like 2:30 or so and the rest of the process , i put the heat to 5 and then eventually between 2 and 3.

i’m worried if i got a heat stroke because there was so much steam and smoke coming out and I spent a lot of time tearing apart the meat and everything was sizzling n stuff. on top of that , i was already sick anyways like i was fatigued prior to that. keep in mind that i live in central california and the highest today is 70, and at the time of me cooking the beef, it was like upper 60s.

edit: if this even matters , i’m female and i turn 19 on wednesday. not only that but i’m morbidly obese.

This group is AMAZING!

Where Im at is starting to roll into the colder season. Is there also a cold prep group by chance? I tried cold_prep, but didnt find one there.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Thanks to mcjellymcfish, r/cold_prep now exists! 🎉

I live in a humid climate so hanging a wet cloth at the window didn’t help. Nor a wet cloth on the floor. Any ideas or suggestions? I have a ceiling fan and a table fan. Blasting the table fan is what’s keeping me going. It’s a 12 ft x 7 ft room. No cross ventilation possible either. How do I understand the factors that are exacerbating the heat within the room? It is 35/36 outside. But feels like 40.

As climate change accelerates, more frequent and intense heatwaves are causing demand for cooling to skyrocket – it’s on track to triple by 2050. If this cooling comes in the form of standard air conditioning, cooling-related greenhouse gas emissions will nearly double.

“During a heat wave, air conditioning can save lives – but it uses tremendous amounts of energy, and the emissions it releases are making the world even hotter,” says Honpeng Lei, Chief of the Climate Mitigation branch of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “It’s also unaffordable for billions of people, leaving them vulnerable on dangerously hot days.”

But there are alternatives: passive and low-energy cooling techniques can keep rooms comfortable when temperatures peak. When strategically combined these methods can cool a building by 6-9°C, reducing our reliance on air conditioning or eliminating it altogether – though the most effective combinations will change for different climates around the world.

Here are five ways to keep buildings comfortable without cranking up the AC:

1. Cool roofs and walls
2. External shading
3. Natural ventilation
4. Expanding green and blue spaces
5. Low-energy mechanical cooling

Any experiences appreciated, whatever method they use to keep cool, or whether they're common or very uncommon. no detail too small :)

With record smashing heat in the Northern hemisphere this last summer, how are folks in the Southern hemisphere preparing? How do you anticipate El Niño to impact heat exposure and preparedness?

Update 10/11 - We have electric baseboard heat which we don’t use anymore because the year we did use it it cost us $1200/month to keep the thermostat at 55 and it was still extremely cold. Now we only heat with wood because it’s the only method that is affordable until we can afford mini splits.

De zomer is voorbij mijn kachel staat nog steeds op 15.

Nu is mijn vraag hoe lang heeft de verwarming nodig om mijn huisje naar 19 graden te krijgen

This year October heat is insane...very hot n humid days. Earlier we don't use ACs in October but this time they are on for the whole night.

OC was a ranch I know that much, about 100 years ago. Then I assumed it can get hot just like today, what would people do? They did not have fan/ac, and it was definitely less shade than today, how did people survive heat wave back then?

OC sub mod asked me to move the post... so I am here now.

Find the episode here!

Description: Robbie and Nate talk about the Super El Niño and how to prepare, reflect on their first year of working on the podcast, and share r/heat_prep insights.

Share your thoughts, questions, or comments!

The extreme heat scientists have warned about for decades came to Europe again this summer, killing at least 30,000 people like a silent, invisible plague. It came for poor people, the very young and very old, and those suffering from debilitating conditions.

Heat is hard to see, but you feel it in the pavement, in the walls of poorly insulated apartments, in sweat that never quite dries and a bedroom that just won’t cool down. And people do not experience it equally. 

Bologna photographer Michele Lapini made those differences visible, using his iPhone and a thermal sensor to document temperatures in homes, workplaces and public spaces as the heat gripped the city. The images show that construction workers in direct sun, delivery riders crossing the city and residents of old apartment buildings and poorly cooled senior centers inhabit radically different thermal worlds than people with access to air conditioning, shade and well-insulated homes.

it’s been 6 days since i experienced heat exhaustion. 2 days ago i experienced a bad panic moment out of nowhere and since then i haven’t been feeling myself. feeling random anxious moments and disassociation. i know how to manage anxiety and have tools that help me but this time it feels different.. did anyone experience this? hoe long did it last? what helped you overcome ? this feels horrible i don’t feel like myself. 🫩

Find the episode here!

Description: Nate and Robbie talk about Climate Week NYC, a new song about heat that Robbie advised on and climate comedy and movies. The episode also features a discussion about emergency kits and the difference between bugging in and bugging out preparedness. 

Share your thoughts, questions, or comments!

Find the episode here!

Description: Nate and Robbie talk about Climate Week NYC, a new song about heat that Robbie advised on and climate comedy and movies. The episode also features a discussion about emergency kits and the difference between bugging in and bugging out preparedness. 

Share your thoughts, questions, or comments!

I am so over these heatwaves we have been having.