World

Americans endure ‘dragon’s breath’ heat wave, set to last into next week

2022.07.20 01:17

3/3
Americans endure 'dragon's breath' heat wave, set to last into next week
Workers walk through a cloud of steam during a heatwave in New York City, U.S., July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

2/3

By Randi Love

(Reuters) – They’re planning days around air conditioning in Oklahoma, monitoring the grid in Texas and keeping an eye out for sharks as they try to cool off in New York.

Across the United States, Americans have been enduring in some cases dangerously high heat that meteorologists say will last into next week.

More than 100 million people are living under excessive warnings or heat advisories this week, according to the National Weather Service.

In Oklahoma City, where a high of 110 Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) was predicted Tuesday, Colin Newman, 40, said it hits like “dragon’s breath” when he steps outside, even in the early hours.

“We plan our days around getting from one air-conditioned place to another,” he said.

New Yorkers, meanwhile, are expected to venture to the beaches to cool off. New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered additional shark monitoring off Long Island, where sharks injured three people this month. Rockaway beaches in Queens were closed to swimmers Tuesday afternoon after a reported shark sighting, according to a New York Police Department tweet.

The excessive heat in the United States comes hot on the heels of a heat wave in Europe this week, which has seen wildfires and record temperatures in the kind of weather event that scientists say will become more frequent with climate change.

At least – unlike in Europe – many American homes have air conditioning.

Power use in Texas is expected to break records again this week as homes and businesses crank up their air conditioners, the state’s power grid operator projected on Monday.

For those without easy access to air conditioning in New York, the New York City Fire Department said cooling centers have opened in libraries, community centers and other city buildings and that it on request is installing spray caps on fire hydrants.

In the city, transportation workers were taking precautions such as drinking plenty of water, said Celeste Kirkland, a Transport Workers Union Local 100 subway safety team lead.

“We’re working in some of the hottest places you can think of,” she said.

In Florida’s Port St. Lucie, 52-year-old resident Lisa Kessler was avoiding all outdoor activity until the sun goes down.

“Florida is like getting a hug from a hot bowl of soup,” she said.

Inside Death Valley National Park in California the village of Stovepipe Wells is expected to hit 119 degrees Fahrenheit (48°C) on Tuesday.

But Death Valley is one of the hottest places on Earth and Park Ranger Nico Ramirez said that temperature is normal for this time of year. He likened the local way of coping to how people handle the extreme cold in cooler climes.

“We hibernate in the heat,” he said. “I have a PlayStation and Wi-Fi. If I’m not working, I’m home with my Wi-Fi and music and games.”

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,500.39 0.36%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,430.76 2.42%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.00%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 256.66 1.20%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 669.14 2.86%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.46 5.42%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.439306 5.60%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.03%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.06 2.29%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,428.43 2.38%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.216394 3.33%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 42.58 2.33%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.56524 29.43%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.50 16.21%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000027 0.69%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,059.43 2.22%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 98,409.37 0.21%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.94 18.64%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.78 5.12%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 513.84 4.62%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,431.82 2.40%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.47 3.76%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000021 2.35%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.73 7.06%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.68 1.10%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 101.86 1.16%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.97 1.96%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 11.27 9.18%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,609.41 2.30%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.150227 0.84%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.70 6.16%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.198893 3.65%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.25%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.576983 7.07%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 30.13 2.02%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 8.03 2.55%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.55 16.71%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 543.33 4.39%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.154049 1.10%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.01%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.882284 6.86%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.75 0.48%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000047 5.17%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.85 14.95%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.99 14.15%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.04%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.0429 0.20%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.81 0.91%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 3.30 3.09%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 54.12 9.52%