Take Precautions to Survive the Heat Waves
For a week or two every year, the temperature gets so high that when I attempt to take my dog for a walk, she gives me a look that says, “Are you crazy?”
At times like this, when stepping outside is like stepping into an oven, I find myself asking the same question: How hot does it have to get before we take climate change seriously?
The answer, if you ask Donald Trump, is this: “Extremely, extremely hot — as hot as my daughter Ivanka.”
Well, people in Europe have recently been getting a double dose of Ivanka.
“In some places in Europe we are experiencing temperatures that have never been recorded before, so it is really unusual,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the Spain-based Copernicus Climate Change Service told the New York Times.
In the town of Mora in central Portugal, the mercury hit 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.6C) in late June, slightly hotter than the 115 (46C) recorded in the town of El Granado in Spain. Those temperatures were the highest ever recorded in June in Portugal and Spain. It was so hot that some immigrants were heading to the airport, saying, “We’re going back to Africa. It’s cooler there.”
Heat warnings were issued in parts of Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and the UK. France put 16 regions under red alert. A red alert means that a severe heatwave is expected and if you don’t take precautions, you might find yourself in the hospital, hopefully a good distance from the morgue.
According to Buontempo, having these extreme temperatures is “not surprising, because with climate change, we’re bound to see more intense, longer, and more frequent heat waves, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.”
There are some things in life for which “more intense, longer, and more frequent” would be welcome. Once a week is just not enough, as many men tell their wives during football season. But heat waves (and cold waves) need to be less intense, shorter and less frequent.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has been recording temperatures for 175 years, and it may not surprise you to learn that 2024 was the warmest year on record. But 2025 is already saying, “Hold my beer.”
On average, the planet was 1.55 degrees Celsius warmer in 2024 than the average temperature in the preindustrial era (1850 to 1900). That may not seem like much, but even a half-degree change can disrupt the world’s ecosystem and put billions of people at greater risk of exposure to heat extremes.
The WMO also reported that the last 10 years (2015 to 2024) have been the hottest 10 years on record. That may explain why so many crazy things have happened in the last decade, such as the wrong winner being announced at the Miss Universe contest, the wrong Best Picture winner being announced at the Oscars, and a convicted felon being sentenced to four years in the White House.
It’s important for us to do whatever we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help combat climate change. It’s also important to take precautions during heat waves, such as staying out of the sun as much as possible and drinking plenty of liquids, preferably something other than beer. Alcohol of all kinds should be avoided, because alcohol consumption results in frequent urination. (There are a few nations in the world that put you at risk for dehydration, but none worse than urination.)
The best thing to drink is water, at least eight cups a day. If you are working outside in the heat, you need two cups of water every 15 minutes. Pour one cup down your throat and the other cup down your pants. Trust me, it works. You may not look cool, but you’ll feel cool.