We should start naming heat waves

Source: Fast Company

As a drawn out warmth wave heats states like Florida and Texas, it is occurring simultaneously as COVID-19 cases spike. This means we are stuck at home. Extreme heat kills more and more people than disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods, and as climate change advances, the issue gets worse.

In New York City, another report called Turning the Heat from the philanthropic Urban Design Forum takes a gander at imaginative approaches to manage the way that the city is getting more sultry. One basic proposal: Give genuine warmth waves names.

In New York City the nonprofit Urban Design Forum, studies new and creative ways to deal with a city that gets hotter and hotter. Here is a powerful simple idea: Name heat waves with sirious names.

Mallory Taub, an associate and sustainable design architect form Gensler says that “when hurricanes get named, we associate the sense of an impending emergency, so we need to act to stay safe.” By simply naming a heat wave it fits the level of a hurricane, people will understand “it as emergency that requires  response.”

People usually underestimate the danger of extreme heat, probably because summers are always hot and deaths caused by heat aren’t always tracked. According to the CDC (The Centers for Disease Control) between 2004 and 2018, on average, 700 Americans died because of excessive heat each year. That is more than deaths caused by other disasters; another study puts the death toll at 12,000/year.

The Urban Design Forum has suggested a lot of creative ideas to fight the heat wave: Green roofs or retrofitting facades on old aging buildings, pop-up pools and moveable forests (potted trees trucked into a neighborhood to provide temporary shade), moveable shades added to public housing, and larger tents in front of buildings. Rain gardens and trees and along sidewalks can help.

In American major cities, by the 2080s, heat waves are expected to double or triple. Let us look a little bit at history: in the 1980s in New York City, on an average year, you would experience two days with temperatures over 100 degrees Farenheit. Currently 42 days per year might reach that temperature.

When a hurricane gets its name, there is an implication of looming crisis, you understand, therefore that to act to remain safe. Giving a heat wave a name raises its level to that of a person.

According to CDC, between of 2004 and 2018, an average of 700 died from excessive heat, but other studies say the average is a little over ten times that.