When the heat can't be beat, a.k.a let's talk about weather

[goldengirlz]

The flooding in Kentucky sounds horrific.

I don’t know if we have any posters from that part of the state, but hope everyone here (and your families) are okay.

[outnumbered]

I have been volunteering this summer preparing, packaging, and serving meals to unhoused people. This weather is brutal on this population. There is no where to escape the heat. In the north east I usually associate cold and snow with dangerous weather, but this prolonged heat causes illness as well.

[basilosaurus]

Jul 31, 2022 18:56:20 GMT -5 outnumbered said:

I have been volunteering this summer preparing, packaging, and serving meals to unhoused people. This weather is brutal on this population. There is no where to escape the heat. In the north east I usually associate cold and snow with dangerous weather, but this prolonged heat causes illness as well.

Are there no cooling centers? I've seen libraries and community centers open extended hours just for heat waves. Yes, there are still hurdles for the unhoused populations, but it can still help many people.

[formerlyak]

Aug 1, 2022 3:41:50 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Jul 31, 2022 18:56:20 GMT -5 outnumbered said:

I have been volunteering this summer preparing, packaging, and serving meals to unhoused people. This weather is brutal on this population. There is no where to escape the heat. In the north east I usually associate cold and snow with dangerous weather, but this prolonged heat causes illness as well.

Are there no cooling centers? I've seen libraries and community centers open extended hours just for heat waves. Yes, there are still hurdles for the unhoused populations, but it can still help many people.

I was wondering this as well. We have them on hot days in LA. They are usually at senior centers and community centers here. Maybe it’s a regional thing? The city or county has to be ready to incur the costs of opening, staffing and turning on the a/c in a location that might not be open that day.

[outnumbered]

formerlyak, basilosaurus,

The city has cooling centers, but the people we serve often struggle with addiction and do not always seek out those centers.

[Velar Fricative]

My work sites are cooling centers but no extended hours beyond the hours they're already open to everyone. Not enough staffing to expand any further. I'm sure that's the case everywhere else.

[basilosaurus]

Aug 1, 2022 11:23:53 GMT -5 outnumbered said:

formerlyak, basilosaurus,

The city has cooling centers, but the people we serve often struggle with addiction and do not always seek out those centers.

Yeah that was one of the hurdles I was thinking of.

[Gato]

As bad as it is here in the U.S., India has it much worse. 17% of the world's population lives in India, yet it only contributes to 3% of the world's fossil fuel emissions. Meanwhile, we in the U.S. emit 1/6th of the world's greenhouse gasses, and we are less than 5% of the world's population. Indians die of heat stroke at 30 times the rate Americans do, and we are literally the ones that are killing them.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/01/living-through-indias-next-level-heat-wave

[pixy0stix]

Aug 1, 2022 13:49:06 GMT -5 Gato said:

As bad as it is here in the U.S., India has it much worse. 17% of the world's population lives in India, yet it only contributes to 3% of the world's fossil fuel emissions. Meanwhile, we in the U.S. emit 1/6th of the world's greenhouse gasses, and we are less than 5% of the world's population. Indians die of heat stroke at 30 times the rate Americans do, and we are literally the ones that are killing them.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/01/living-through-indias-next-level-heat-wave

I think of stats like this every time someone wants to argue that individual impact isn't the problem. Yes. Yes it is. It's a big part of the problem. Our entire lifestyle down to having to drive cars large enough to haul around soccer shoes is the problem.

[Gato]

Jul 28, 2022 14:58:11 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

If I win the lottery, I'm moving to Maine before everyone else does. Because in 25 years it will be like the mid-Atlantic. Which means central air. Which just contributes to climate change. Ughhhhh.

Join us!  But prices are spiking here because everyone is thinking like you.  Last year, over 30% of buyers in Maine were from out of state.  Home prices spiked 50% during the pandemic and so far, are holding.  But it's still cheaper to buy here than almost anywhere else on the East Coast.

I think in 25 years, most Maine homes will be using mini-splits for both heating and cooling.  If you're starting from scratch like most Mainers are, why put in a system that's more expensive and worse for the environment?

[Gato]

Aug 1, 2022 13:53:40 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 1, 2022 13:49:06 GMT -5 Gato said:

As bad as it is here in the U.S., India has it much worse. 17% of the world's population lives in India, yet it only contributes to 3% of the world's fossil fuel emissions. Meanwhile, we in the U.S. emit 1/6th of the world's greenhouse gasses, and we are less than 5% of the world's population. Indians die of heat stroke at 30 times the rate Americans do, and we are literally the ones that are killing them.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/01/living-through-indias-next-level-heat-wave

I think of stats like this every time someone wants to argue that individual impact isn't the problem. Yes. Yes it is. It's a big part of the problem. Our entire lifestyle down to having to drive cars large enough to haul around soccer shoes is the problem.

@@@@@

Whenever somebody here posts about how they absolutely have to have an SUV for their kids' sports, I think of my mom in her tiny Renault Alliance driving my brother and his teammates to hockey games.  This was during the last gas crisis, when small cars were the norm, and somehow kids still got to their activities!

[msmerymac]

Aug 1, 2022 13:59:23 GMT -5 Gato said:

Jul 28, 2022 14:58:11 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

If I win the lottery, I'm moving to Maine before everyone else does. Because in 25 years it will be like the mid-Atlantic. Which means central air. Which just contributes to climate change. Ughhhhh.

Join us!  But prices are spiking here because everyone is thinking like you.  Last year, over 30% of buyers in Maine were from out of state.  Home prices spiked 50% during the pandemic and so far, are holding.  But it's still cheaper to buy here than almost anywhere else on the East Coast.

I think in 25 years, most Maine homes will be using mini-splits for both heating and cooling.  If you're starting from scratch like most Mainers are, why put in a system that's more expensive and worse for the environment?

Totally - my in-laws in MA have mini splits as of the last 6 years or so and they are great.