How your body breaks down in extreme heat. We start with paper “Twenty-Seven Ways a Heat Wave Can Kill You: Deadly Heat in the Era of Climate Change”. Medical terms explained. Short clips from Ecoshock interview with lead author Dr. Camilo Mora included. Australian heat and health expert Elizabeth Hanna makes it all clear (replay). Quick review of 15 lessons from the Russian heat wave of 2010 (55,000 killed, wheat exports annihilated, and more). A new compilation of heat survival know-how.

Listen to or download this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)

 

AI-assisted song: “Stay Cool” by Alex Smith. Creative Commons License (non-profit use)

 

SCARY WEATHER MAPS

Looking at world temperature maps has become a gruesome duty. In the first week of July 2024, glaring red bubbles of heat far above “normal” rested over Spain, the Mediterranean, and off into Eastern Russia. Sandwiched in-between: colder than expected temperatures over Northern Europe, extending into the UK and Ireland. An Irish listener complains they had not yet seen any heat, much less summer. Europe was like two separate universes running on different temperatures. It is all in the bend of the upper atmospheric winds, the Jet Stream.

Below on this EU Copernicus satellite map they ran out of red colors to cover abnormally hot weeks and months in North Africa. Experts devised a new color code going into purples and then white I think.

Algeria is a hot country, but Algeria has smashed – not broken – but smashed heat records over and over in 2024. Sudanese refugee camps with 5 million people under canvass at best are sizzling beyond human capacity. People in Egypt and Gaza are roasting in heat. Turkey is unbearably hot. Iran is simply under heat siege, even during elections there. On the 16th of July, the Gulf city of Dubai recorded a heat index of 144°F (62.2°C). It cooled down to 129°F (53.9°C) at night. As US Stormwatcher Colin McCarthy says, this is “Life-threatening heat”.

Dozens died of the heat in India last week, again. In some parts of Japan, the government is warning citizens not to go outside, for any reason. The heat is too dangerous. Officially, more than seven people in Tokyo died due to the heat. In an overheated city of 13 million people, the real toll will be higher.

North America experienced a rare double heat dome. It has happened before, but never with the new high temperatures. The hottest days ever were just reported in Palm Springs and Las Vegas Nevada. It was 120 F. in Las Vegas, or 48.8 C. That is not just a fraction higher but a full 3 degrees Fahrenheit over the previous record..

In the East, at the very same time, Raleigh North Carolina set it’s highest ever temperature. On July 6, 2024 Raleigh, North Carolina, reached an all-time record high of 106 degrees F (41.1 C), with a maximum “feels like” heat index of 118 F (47.7 C) Washington D.C. felt like over 100 degrees F. It is 101 degrees Fahrenheit – 38.3 C outside my studio in Canada and still climbing. Any wind genuinely feels like a hair dryer in the face. It is way too hot.

YOUR BODY UNDER EXTREME HEAT

On Radio Ecoshock, I ask top doctors from the best institutions to describe how heat kills. But heat doesn’t just kill. In just a day of extreme heat, or a few days, humans can suffer organ damage with lasting effects. They may lose abilities and then die earlier than without that heat damage. All this has been tested by doctors and major studies in multiple countries.

LIKE LONG COVID, THERE IS LONG HEAT DAMAGE

There is long-COVID. It now appears there is also long-heat-stress damage. This means official statistics for heat deaths, in countries that publish those figures, are not just underestimated, but unknown.

In 2017, Dr. Camilo Mora from the University of Hawaii talked to us about his paper “Twenty-Seven Ways a Heat Wave Can Kill You: Deadly Heat in the Era of Climate Change”. He begins by describing the five major ways excess heat damages your body. Most of them relate to your blood circulation.

Blood becomes heated in the energy exchange with our cells. That heat is released through the skin, and helped by evaporation of sweat if needed. So it makes sense that heat higher than your body temperature will make the natural cooling process more difficult. Humidity is also an important factor because it can limit evaporation, thus reducing your body’s emergency cooling mechanism.

The processes of heat damage involves some medical terms, but they are not difficult to understand. If you grasp these basics you may be able to help yourself or someone else survive extreme heat.

The Mora-led team of scientists searched through masses of medical and other scientific literature to find reports of physical damage by heat. They found five physiological mechanisms triggered by heat exposure. These five mechanisms can affect seven different vital organs. Excess heat can damage: brain, heart, intestines, kidneys, liver, lungs, and pancreas. If you multiply five mechanisms by seven organs, there might be 35 different ways heat can kill you. But the authors found some were either duplicated or not documented, settling on 27 different provable ways heat can kill.

WHAT IS “ISCHEMIA”?

In this show, we will not discuss organ damage, covering instead the five ways organs get damaged: the mechanisms of heat in our bodies. We begin, as the paper does, with a process called “ischemia”. According to Wikipedia, “Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). “

In the show I play about 2 minutes where Dr Mora talks about ischemia and also the gut. Dr. Camilo Mora from University of Hawaii was recorded on Radio Ecoshock in 2017. Note that ischemia can restrict oxygen to any organ, including the brain. This may explain why part of the process of heat illness can be losing cognitive ability. The person with heat damage may not realize their serious condition, and could make foolish and unsafe choices during this stage – like extending a hike on a hot day, or diving in a river without knowing how to swim. Both are common during heat waves.

Listen to or download this 28 minute interview with Camilo Mora in CD Quality or Lo-Fi

 

The 27 ways to die of heat paper says:

“When the human body is exposed to heat, the hypothalamus triggers a cardiovascular response that dilates blood vessels to redirect blood from the core to the periphery of the body, where heat is dissipated to the environment. This compensatory shunting of blood to the skin results in inadequate blood flow to other organs (ie, ischemia; 1 of the 5 identified mechanisms). “

The authors later continue:

“Cell damage from heat cytotoxicity and ischemia can lead to other serious conditions, such as acute tubular necrosis in the kidneys, permanent loss of brain function, liver endotoxins in the blood, inflammation of the pancreas, and not enough oxygen getting to the lungs and into the blood because of injury of the pulmonary endothelium.

Heat cytotoxicity and ischemia can also break down cell membranes increasing the permeability of organs to pathogens and toxins. “

“HEAT CYTOTOXITY”

The second way heat damages our bodies is called “heat cytotoxity”. Our cells depend on a fairly narrow range of temperatures, within the body, to continue living. If body temperatures goes beyond the tolerance of cells, cell death begins. That is “cytotoxicity”.  In the show you hear a short clip with Dr. Mora on heat cytotoxicity.

INFLAMMATION AND BLOOD CLOTS

As I understand it, the third mechanism, the inflammatory response, involves an over-active or improperly targeted immune system – a condition that develops during longer durations of excessive heat. In persistent hyperthermia, immune mediators like cytokines can led to leakage from the affected organs and damaging chemical states.

Inflammation of the vascular system can also trigger another mechanism called disseminated intravascular coagulation. As you might imagine, this involved blood clotting and that is a double danger. You know blood clots can wreck a limb, collect in your lungs or brain causing major function loss, or kill. As Wiki tells us, disseminated intravascular coagulation “symptoms may include chest pain, shortness of breath, leg pain, problems speaking, or problems moving parts of the body.”

During heat, blood can begin to coagulate, clogging arteries or veins. That of course can be deadly, or lead to serious damage to a limb for example. But as the body continue to create more clogging agents, it can eventually run out of them. Then the body cannot stop any bleeding. So blood clotting during heat exposure is a double-edged danger.

RHABDOMYOLYSIS

We round up our tour of ways excess heat can kill with the fifth mechanism from a 2017 summary. It is called “rhabdomyolysis”. I had never heard of it. Sometimes the name is shortened to “rhabdo”. Wiki says:

“Rhabdomyolysis (shortened as rhabdo) is a condition in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly, often due to high intensity exercise over a short period of time. Symptoms may include muscle pains, weakness, vomiting, and confusion.

There may be tea-colored urine or an irregular heartbeat. Some of the muscle breakdown products, such as the protein myoglobin, are harmful to the kidneys and can cause acute kidney injury.

The muscle damage is most usually caused by a crush injury, strenuous exercise, medications, or a substance use disorder. Other causes include infections, electrical injury, heat stroke, prolonged immobilization, lack of blood flow to a limb, or snake bites as well as intense or prolonged exercise, particularly in hot conditions.”

WHAT ABOUT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM?

I asked Dr. Mora whether excess heat can damage the immune system. He said they found no literature to support that. However, seven years later, a new study by the American Heart Association reveals heat can damage the immune system. Published March 20, 2024, the paper is “Heat exposure may increase inflammation and impair the immune system”. They say through Science Daily:

“Short-term exposure to higher heat may increase inflammation and interfere with normal immune system functions in the body, which may, in turn, increase susceptibility to infections and accelerate the progression of cardiovascular disease, according to preliminary research...”

When heat waves strike in 2024, there is a double risk: 1. the immune system may already be damaged by COVID, especially with repeated infections and 2. excess heat exposure may lower the immune system making us more likely to get COVID if exposed. Threats interact.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS

With Dr. Mora we kept our focus on the medical ways heat damages people’s bodies. But everyone knows extreme heat, especially long-lasting heat waves, have significant psychological impacts as well. In 2023, the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) published a reference paper called “High temperatures on mental health: Recognizing the association and the need for proactive strategies- A perspective”. They state, quote: “ Psychological symptoms can include stress, irritability, sleep disturbances, reduced motivation, decreased mood and enjoyment, and agitation.”

Check this out from that NCBI paper:

“The physiological stress response to high temperatures includes the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones can evoke emotional responses, leading to feelings of irritability, restlessness, and heightened emotional sensitivity. Individuals may find themselves more prone to frustration, impatience, and interpersonal conflicts during heat exposure, underscoring the intricate link between physiological and emotional well-being.”

And then there is:

“Aggravation of pre-existing mental health conditions

High temperatures can exacerbate symptoms of pre-existing mental health conditions. Individuals with conditions such as anxiety disorders, depression, or bipolar disorder may experience intensified symptoms during heatwaves, making it crucial to manage their mental health effectively. “

Be aware: heat affects the brain and can lead to very poor decision making. A hot person who cannot swim may dive into a lake anyway, for example. During the Russian heat wave of 2010, there were a lot of drownings. Alcohol may have been a contributing factor. But it is not uncommon to find a person experiencing heat stroke who is unaware of the danger they are in, and continue to exercise or work in very dangerous conditions. They may dispute they are in danger, even while displaying obvious signs of heat stroke. They may decline treatment. Those trying to help heat victims should keep cognitive decline in mind.

I wonder: as heat waves become dominant perhaps billions of people would decline in some mental functioning, and carry long-lasting to life-long physical damages including undiagnosed organ damage.  If someone dies of heart failure, due to heart or circulatory damage suffered during a heat wave year earlier, currently neither doctors or the family would know the real cause: heat. Excess deaths may increase during global warming.

To my knowledge, the scope and facts of this heat risk to future populations is not known and possibly not knowable. Scientists may try models for predictions. But you can’t predict much when multiple systems collide and states of chaos multiply.

Stranger still, as Dr. Mora tells us, we may not even know we are dying due to heat. The death may come days or years later. This delay is called “the harvesting effect”. There may be more fatalities one or two days after the heat wave. And countless more over following years or decades.

HEAT AND HEALTH: DR. ELIZABETH HANNA

Let’s go to a replay of one of my best interviews on the medical impacts of extreme heat. Our guest was Elizabeth Hanna interview. She is a nurse with a doctorate, and was National Convenor of the Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Human Health at Australian National University. We talked in 2013 and her wisdom is just what we need to hear again today.

Download/listen to this 20 minute interview with Dr. Hanna in CD Quality or Lo-Fi

 

THE RUSSIAN HEAT WAVE REVISITED

Journalists and activists worry: what will happen if heat devastates food production in one of the three so-called bread basket countries that feed millions around the world. We know – because it already happened in spectacular fashion in Russia in 2010.  In my archives I have various quotes from top Russian politicians promising global warming would be good for the country. More heat would expand the growing area in Siberia for example. Everyone want shorter winters. Than reality called.

The Russian heat wave was a multi-factor catastrophe. A study by a team of University of Oxford experts estimated at least 55,000 people died during it. Here again we likely have a case of natural variability being pumped up by climate change.

That heat wave was poorly reported in Western press. It was a new level of heat event and reports from the Russian government were sporadic. I followed a couple of dozen sources and pieced it together. Then I phoned Vladimir Tchouprov of Greenpeace Russia. He was living through the heat wave in Moscow.  In the show I play a couple of short clips from our Radio interview.

After studying this 2010 heat disaster intensively, I published 15 short things to learn from it. Every one of them applies to extreme heat and wildfires bubbling up all over the world during the last year, and right now in California. Find the blog for that show here, and the full program here.

 

15 LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE, FROM THE RUSSIAN HEAT STORM

-by Alex Smith, Radio Ecoshock

Whether or not the Russian fire storm was directly caused by climate change – it is a hard lesson on what we can expect in the future. Here are just a few of the issues stirred up by heat, the smoke, the drought, and the fires. Learn what you will, from these 15 warnings.

Number 1

Deaths from heat and smog caused the death rate to double in Moscow. Large cities can be attacked by climate change, to become deadly traps.

Number 2

An estimated 2,000 Russians drowned trying to escape the heat. Some died in drinking fountains. Some drank too much alcohol, trying to cope with the heat and stress.

Number 3

The fires revealed the extreme and nearly uncontrollable dangers posed by climate change to nuclear facilities, both power reactors and military bases.

Number 4

Many people tried to leave Moscow, but were prevented by smoke-closed roads and airports. Subways became dangerous. Traffic accidents and fatalities went way up. Essential goods, including food and medical supplies, can’t get through. Transportation systems break down.

Number 5

The number of homeless people grew, as villages were burned out.

Number 6

Peat fires went up to 12 feet underground, and are expected to burn until winter.

Number 7

Crops die. One fifth of Russian grains were lost, exports banned, and international wheat prices rose. In the future, grain importers, like the North African nations, may starve.

Number 8

Home gardens, community gardens, and survival gardens died. Beyond certain limits, plants cannot cope with a hotter climate. Survivalists should begin testing their varieties and their strategies for cooling plants. Or consider relocating to a microclimate regulated by the ocean, or other large bodies of water.

Number 9

Fans, air conditioners, and inflatable pools sold out quickly. Money could not buy a cool place, or fresh air. Air conditioners may be useless, if the power goes out. Consider your tools.

Number 10

Some wealthy Russians were able to get out, including government officials. With the poor stuck and dying, – class stress, or even violence, is possible during extreme climate events. Think New Orleans under hurricane Katrina.

Number 11

The electric grid is strained, and power lines burn down, including those coming from nuclear power stations. Brown-outs and black-outs are likely in the future, even in countries like Great Britain, or America.

Number 12

People suffer extreme psychological stress. Will your baby, grandma, or asthmatic husband be OK? Are you afraid to go out for work or supplies? Will crime and violence flare in the day-after-day relentless heat? Do people come to fear the weather? What are the long-term mental health risks?

Number 13

Even more carbon was released into the atmosphere. Global warming will feed more global warming. The Russian fires released millions of tons of carbon from the forests into the sky. The black particles swirled up into the international Arctic, darkening snow, hastening more melting. Brown clouds traveled as far as Beijing.

Number 14

The economic costs continue to mount. Forest jobs lost. Workers don’t show up. Expensive fire fighting and restoration costs. Roads wiped out. Crops wiped out, including orchards, farm equipment, and buildings. In Russia, the loss is estimated at least 1 percent of the GDP.

Number 15

Public anger mounts, and big government often fails to handle anything with competence. Regime change, as we saw in Africa and the Middle East when grain prices skyrocketed, is always possible after major climate hits. The long-term impact on public confidence is unknown. Governments may swing to authoritarian forms, or break down into smaller states, or anarchy.

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GOODBYE DENIAL

There is a saying in science that no one is convinced of a new paradigm. As Max Planck says:

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it …”

So it is with climate change. American Senator James Inhofe has been a chief climate denier.  James Inhofe died July 9, 2024 during extreme heat across the American West, including his oil and gas state of Oklahoma. His claim of Earth cooling has been proven wrong, dead wrong. The original climate deniers and fossil profiteers will all die away, leaving generations to suffer in heat, storms, fire, and a dying natural world. Every child will grow up in a destabilized climate. They will know.

FREE HEAT BOOK OFFER

You can get an electronic book with my best Radio Ecoshock interviews on heat just by sending me an email.  I will send back a .pdf format e-book free. I don’t keep a mailing list of listener names. There are no catches or sales angles. Use the subject line “free book” and I will send you “Surviving the New Age of Extreme Heat”. The address is radio @ ecoshock.org or use the Contact form on this blog.

Feel free to email me any time with your experiences and ideas for the show. I always like to hear from listeners, podcast subscribers and blog readers.  Please, please remember to support Radio Ecoshock if you can!

I’m Alex Smith. Thank you for listening during these hot times, and caring about our world.