This story was originally It appears in Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
A four-month-old baby died in Arizona as temperatures soared into triple digits; a two-year-old died in a heated car, also in Arizona; at least four people died of heatstroke in Oregon; and one motorcyclist died and other passengers fell ill in Death Valley as temperatures reached a record 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
These are just a few examples of the dangers of extreme heat just from the last week: As the weather gets hotter and extreme heat becomes our new normal, summer will continue to remind us that high temperatures are a dire threat.
And in other countries, extreme heat is already proving to be even more devastating. This year’s heatwaves have killed at least 30 people in Pakistan, more than 100 in India and more than 125 in Mexico. Extreme heat has been responsible for more than 1,300 deaths during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. According to the World Health Organization, heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths, and the risk is increasing as global average temperatures rise.
It’s odd that in many aspects of our culture, extreme heat is seen as something to be embraced, bravely endured, blithely ignored, or, in the case of some marginalized communities, completely taken for granted.
Books, movies, TV shows, common metaphors, idioms, and social media often reinforce the idea that the heat is something that can be overcome if you have enough willpower, but climate change means that “beating” the heat is no longer physically possible — in some parts of the world, it’s simply not possible, as temperatures rise above realistic survivable levels.
Millions of Americans who work or spend significant amounts of time outdoors in the summer are past the point where they can safely go without regular shade and hydration, and it’s becoming increasingly inadequate. But ironically, the more we rely on air conditioners and other artificial cooling systems, the further away we are from the urgency of the problem.
Barring emergencies like wildfires, the heat itself isn’t an immediate problem — it creeps up on us, gradually causing health problems over a period of hours, during which everything seems fine, but it’s not.
It’s worth examining our attitudes about heat: what causes it, what prejudices we hold, and why, in the face of global warming, it’s so hard to cast off the idea that not being able to adapt to extreme heat is some kind of personal failing.
No one needs to get extremely hot, much less die.
Our stories about heat are all about breaking through the heat: what happens if we can’t?
We don’t question the need for heating in the winter, so why do we consider cooling in the summer a luxury? After the hottest year on record, and perhaps the deadliest year for heatwaves, the policies needed to address extreme heat in the United States are surprisingly weak, if they exist at all. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency responsible for workplace safety, only began putting together federal workplace safety standards for extreme heat this year, even though workers across the country have been experiencing frequent workplace deaths from heatwaves for years.
How did we get to this point? The delay in developing federal protections for workers exposed to heat may have to do with the notion that if workers can’t stand the heat it’s because they’re not tough enough — a literal translation of “if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen” and a deeply ingrained cultural trope.
