The Earth recently recorded its hottest day ever – a record experts warn will likely be repeatedly broken as the climate crisis drives temperatures higher and higher. And it’s happening fast: a new report found last month was the planet’s hottest June by a “substantial margin,” meaning the nine hottest Junes have all occurred in the last nine years. Extremely hot days – what could be considered the hottest days of the summer – are more frequent now than in 1970 in 195 locations across the US, according to the research group Climate Central. Of those locations, roughly 71% now face at least seven additional extremely hot days each year. The effects have been devastating. In one Texas county, at least 11 people died in just over a week during an unrelenting June heat wave. In Mexico, soaring temperatures have killed at least 112 people since March. A heat wave in India killed at least 44 people across the state of Bihar. Here’s what happens to your body in extreme heat, what you need to watch out for and how to stay safe. What happens to your body Normally, your body is used to a certain range of temperatures, usually between 97 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit. When your brain senses a change – either lower or higher than that – it attempts to help your body cool down or heat up, according to Dr. Judith Linden, executive vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center and a professor in the emergency medicine department at Boston University’s school of medicine. A security guard wearing an electric fan on his neck wipes his sweat on a hot day in Beijing, Monday, July 3, 2023. Heavy flooding has displaced thousands of people around China Beijing reported 9.8 straight days when the temperature exceeded 35 C (95 F), the National Climate Center said Andy Wong/AP The planet saw its hottest day on record this week. It’s a record that will be broken again and again There are a number of different ways in which (the brain) attempts to cool the body down. One way, the most common way we think of, is that you sweat,” Linden said. “The pores open, the body sweats and the sweat evaporates, that cools the body.” When you’re exposed to high temperatures, it becomes harder for your body Cooling down isn’t easy with humidity can make things. Heat cramps are milder but still dangerous. They occur from working hard while being too warm-up and not drinking enough water. Heat exhaustions are more serious conditions that happen after prolonged exposure to excessive warmth. This condition causes heavy perspiration, headache; nausea; dizziness; fainting; rapid heartbeat; pale skin color; fatigue; weakness; vomiting; and sometimes confusion. Heat stroke is the most
The planet is getting hotter fast. This is what happens to your body in extreme heat. By Jeremy Hsu
