The Heat Is On, a song written by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey for the 1984 movie Beverly Hills Cop, is the mantra of the moment around the planet.
Rising temperatures exacerbate the risk of wildfires, making national preparedness crucial. Increased heat and dryness can create tinderbox conditions, leading to larger and more frequent fires. Effective national preparedness strategies include public awareness campaigns, infrastructure improvements, and proactive wildfire management practices.
We know that heat and humidity affect our bodies. Too much leads to dehydration, nausea, fatigue, and fainting. The 2003 heat wave across Europe killed tens of thousands of people.
When excessive heat and humidity disrupt daily life, force people into hospitals, and kill others, heat-wave disasters result. Possibilities emerge for other linked disasters, such as those involving vegetation fires – with many small ones igniting they lead to a declaration of a major incident. These disasters can increase or decrease depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or anxiety, depending on pre-existing psychological state and support given, among other factors.
Meanwhile, doom-and-gloom-only narratives about climate change instill a sense of hopelessness and even go beyond science by predicting human extinction. Bombarding us with storylines of inevitable, unavoidable, relentless destruction is inaccurate and detrimentally affects mental health and well-being. Climate change’s real effects can be eclipsed by telling us that we ought to be experiencing eco-grief and eco-anxiety. Therefore, we do so or we feel eco-guilty for not.
Ever-worsening heat and humidity are the norm, with both physical and mental health and well-being adversely affected. While hot, humid weather is not the only factor influencing health, it is often neglected until it is too late, becoming the silent killer. Simultaneously, climate deniers fiddle whilst our world burns.
As we try to adjust to more frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting heat waves, the joke remains that, to keep cool, just turn on the oven.
William Perry
Victoria
