Perilous Times and
Climate Change
22 July 2011 Last updated at 10:39 ET
US and Canada heatwave worsens in eastern regions
One New Yorker says being outside is like "sitting in a sauna all
day long"
A gruelling heatwave has intensified over eastern parts of the US
and Canada, with Friday expected to be the region's hottest day
yet.
Temperatures feel as high as 46C (115F) in places along the
crowded east coast, with no relief expected until after the
weekend.
At least 22 deaths have been blamed on the heat, and 223 heat
records have been breached across the US alone.
As much as 45% of the US population was under a heat advisory,
officials said.
Meteorologists have put the temperatures down to a "dome" of high
pressure in the atmosphere.
Many regions in the central US and parts of the eastern seaboard
have seen heat indexes - a combination of temperature and humidity
- topping 43C.
In New York, though, residents were warned to stay out of the
water at city beaches after sewage was pumped into the Hudson
River.
Air sinks
The blistering heat has also hit parts of Canada, with
temperatures in Toronto expected to top 35C on Friday, according
to Environment Canada.
Is there any chance of a drop in temperatures in the coming days?
At 38C (101F), Syracuse in New York State has already witnessed
its hottest day since 1936, forecasters say.
"This is an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure that
really has an exceptional scope and duration," Eli Jacks, a
meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the BBC.
"The air is sinking, as it sinks it compresses and gets warmer. It
also dries out, so few clouds form to block the high early-summer
sun," he said.
The combination of high heat and high humidity make it hard for
the human body to cool itself - because sweat does not evaporate
efficiently, he added.
Across the central and eastern US, people and animals alike have
been struggling to keep cool amid the oppressive heat and
humidity.
As the heat peaks in major population centres on the east coast,
the number of deaths is expected to rise, officials warn.
Officials in the central state of Missouri say 13 people have
died, and there have been fatalities in neighbouring Oklahoma,
including a three-year-old boy.
In the town of Hutchinson in Kansas three elderly people were
found dead in separate homes.
States more used to cold weather, including Minnesota and North
Dakota, have been hit hard.
In the south, more than three-quarters of Texas is suffering from
drought amid the worst dry spell in the state for decades.
Smog and sewage
Urban areas have opened cooling centres for the poor and elderly,
and the National Weather Service has warned people in normally
cool areas to be especially cautious.
As New Yorkers roasted in the heat, health officials warned them
to stay out of the water at four beaches on New York Harbor after
a sewage treatment plant damaged by fire began pumping raw waste
into the Hudson River.
Electricity company Con Edison said scattered power cuts were
likely in New York in the coming days amid a surge in usage of air
conditioning units.
The city's fire chiefs have hired additional crews and officials
have placed mobile fountains around the city to allow people to
refill water bottles.
Philadelphia has deployed police officers to manage hot, irritated
crowds at the city's public swimming pools.
Leena Allen, 9, cools off at a fan in front of the St Louis Zoo
Across the US, people found ways to keep cool - like standing in
front of a mist spray
In Nashville, Tennessee, hospital staff have reported several
cases of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Chicago is experiencing unhealthy smog levels caused by the heat,
with residents asked not to mow their lawns and to switch off
idling cars.
Forecasters said the damage caused by the heat could be worse than
that brought about by a heatwave in Chicago in 1995, when more
than 700 people died over three days.
Asphalt and concrete pavements and buildings in cities were
"re-radiating" the heat, forecasters say.
High temperatures - the number one weather-related killer in the
US - claim 162 lives on average in the country each year.
The most severe heatwave in modern North American history took
place during the Great Depression in 1936. The heat that summer
was blamed for more than 5,000 deaths in the US and Canada.