What the Climate Crisis Has to Do With This Heat Wave — and What You Can Do About It

The heat wave suffocating the Bay Area is likely the longest and hottest here in more than a hundred years, and the climate emergency is making extreme heat events like this a regular part of our lives.

During the peak of this heat wave, all-time-high records were shattered across the Bay Area — 116 degrees Fahrenheit in Sacramento, 115 degrees in Santa Rosa and 109 degrees in San José.

KQED’s Brian Watt talked with KQED climate reporter Laura Klivans about why the heat is so intense, and what people can do to address the climate crisis and protect themselves from heat illness.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

BRIAN WATT: This intensity and duration — is that something we can attribute to climate change?

LAURA KLIVANS: It is. Climate scientists say there is no question this heat wave is linked to the climate crisis, which makes heat waves hotter and longer.

Global warming also makes extreme heat waves more frequent and larger spatially — meaning they span a greater area. More than 45 million people across six states were under heat advisories on Monday. And that has implications for our power grid. Because many more people are cranking their air-conditioning, California can’t rely as much on buying power from its neighboring states.

What can Californians expect in coming summers?

What we see now is just a preview. Things will get worse because humans are still burning fossil fuels, still adding carbon to the atmosphere.

But here’s the thing. We decide how bad that is. The more people who acknowledge this crisis and take steps to stop the burning of fossil fuels, the better for all of us — people, plants, animals. We decide.

We can take actions like demanding more climate policies are passed, and even individual things like installing renewable energy, or swapping out old appliances like gas stoves for electric ones.

Coming back to these next few days, serious relief isn’t likely until this weekend.

Right. And this is dangerous to people’s health. While a string of 90- to 100-degree days is common for someone living in places like Arizona, even temperatures in the high 80s can be life-threatening for Bay Area residents, who are not acclimated to it. A human body takes two weeks to acclimate to a change in temperature, so by the time the heat wave ends, we haven’t had time to adjust to the higher temperature.

Ordinarily, cool temperatures at night would allow our bodies to recover from the daytime heat. But in many parts of the Bay Area — in fact, the state — nighttime temperatures aren’t as low as they once were. When people’s bodies can’t cool down at night, the internal heat builds up day after day.

So when should you seek medical attention?

If you think you or someone else may have heatstroke. That’s when your body can no longer cool itself off. Signs of heatstroke are hot, dry skin, high body temperatures, confusion or a throbbing headache.

Also be wary of heat exhaustion — that’s less serious and you don’t need to call the doctor, but it can become heatstroke if you don’t cool down. Warning signs are heavy sweating, cramps or a headache.

What can we do to take care of ourselves and others?

There are a lot of things you can do:

• Drink lots of water.
• Check on your neighbors — seriously, that can save someone’s life. If you know of someone living solo — especially if they are older — knock on their door. Or have their phone number so you can check on them. 
• Take cool baths and showers or throw a cold, wet towel around your neck.
• Avoid exerting yourself.
• Use air-conditioning or a heat pump, which is a more efficient tool to cool your home. Keep your shades closed when it’s sunny.
• Go to a cooling center. 
• Last, and this is extremely important, don’t leave kids or pets in your car.