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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – The combination of extreme heat and humidity kills more people than natural disasters. So, public health authorities and the media are working around the clock notifying the public and spreading the word about the potentially dangerous conditions, says Ball State meteorologist David Call.
Parts of 32 states plus Washington, D.C., were under heat advisories, warnings or watches Wednesday as a 90-plus degree temps that have blasted the Midwest expanded eastward.
Excessive heat warning is when the heat index – a measure combining heat and humidity – exceeds 105 degrees for three or more hours two or more consecutive days or the heat index exceeds 115 degrees. An excessive heat watch is for a shorter duration or when nighttime temps don’t fall below 80.
“This probably surprises many people, but heat is the No, 1 weather-related killer. It’s worse than lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes and flooding,” Call says. “We’re often not aware of that because the deaths often occur in isolation and many of them are poor, elderly people who are not well connected with others.”
He says ensuring safety during a heat wave is not difficult.
“We hear about kids dying in locked cars – typically about 40 to 50 die each year – or an older person dying at home because he/she didn’t have the resources or ability to buy an air conditioning or travel to a cooling center. Heat deaths can be prevented with public action and relatively simple steps.
“The safety tips include drinking lots of fluids, getting to areas where there is air conditioning and checking on elderly friends and relatives. Major epidemics of heat-related deaths – notably in Chicago in 1995 and in Europe in 2003 – raised awareness among authorities of the need for public education, notification and preventative measures such as cooling centers.”
Call also points out that in the Midwest, crops may be contributing to the hot, humid conditions.
“I’ve read several studies that found crops – especially corn – contribute to higher dew points (the temperature where vapor condenses) in the Midwest in late summer. And this year, 92.3 million acres of corn were planted, one of the highest levels ever recorded, and that is even with large declines of crops being planted in Texas. So that is also part of the reason for ridiculous dew points in the mid and upper 70s.
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