Heat wave

4 ways to support someone with dementia during extreme heat

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, September 28, 2023

For example, we need to identify suitable clothing, increase our fluid intake, and understand how to best keep the house cool.

Key Points: 
  • For example, we need to identify suitable clothing, increase our fluid intake, and understand how to best keep the house cool.
  • These and other factors mean, for someone with dementia, extreme heat can be deadly.

El Niño means there are challenges ahead

    • The recent declaration of another El Niño means we need to think about how we can best support those more vulnerable to be safe during the warmer months.
    • Extreme heat and bushfires bring unique challenges for someone with dementia.
    • Emergency evacuations can also be confusing and distressing for a person with dementia, so it is important to think ahead.

Why are people with dementia more at risk?

    • Problems with memory and thinking associated with dementia means remembering to drink or communicating you are thirsty can be challenging.
    • But if someone with dementia becomes dehydrated this can increase confusion and agitation, making it harder for them to know how to cool down.
    • A person with dementia can also wander and become lost, which can be dangerous in extreme heat.

4 ways to support someone with dementia

    • Some air-conditioners have complex settings so make sure the temperature is set appropriately and the person with dementia knows how to use the controls.
    • Try to support the person to make suitable clothing choices for the season by having cool, lightweight options easily available.
    • Think about communications early If someone with dementia lives alone, consider how you will maintain contact in an emergency.
    • If the person with dementia attends a day or respite centre, know their plan too.
    • Read more:
      Floods and other emergencies can be extra tough for people with dementia and their carers.

We can all help


    It’s not just carers of people with dementia who can help. We can all ensure people with dementia stay safe and cool this spring and summer. So remember to check in on your relatives, friends and neighbours or arrange for someone to do so on your behalf.

Worried about heat and fire this summer? Here's how to to prepare

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 18, 2023

Down south, the winter was the hottest ever recorded in Australia, fuelled by record ocean temperatures.

Key Points: 
  • Down south, the winter was the hottest ever recorded in Australia, fuelled by record ocean temperatures.
  • Small wonder many Australians are worried about what summer will bring, as a likely El Niño threatens hot and dry fire weather.
  • And if you live anywhere in Australia, you need to plan for heat.

Fire gets attention – but extreme heat can do more damage

    • But in reality, extreme heat hits harder.
    • That’s because extreme heat can be extremely widespread – and a hidden killer.
    • As the climate becomes less stable, we’re seeing more heat domes – slow-moving high-pressure systems which sit atop an area and blast it.

Will bushfires be back this summer?

    • Grasses dry out more quickly than other vegetation types, meaning grasslands switch rapidly from moist to tinderbox.
    • The most likely fires we’ll see this season will be grass, scrub and city fringe fires.
    • Very large forest fires like those of the Black Summer are less likely, as these need extended dry conditions.

What should you do to get ready?

    • Let’s say you live near a forest or grassland which could be a fire risk.
    • How could you make sure all your loved ones are contactable – and if they’re away from you, how could you make sure they can get to safety?
    • If you’re in a bushfire prone area, explore and make use of planning resources offered by every state, territory and local emergency agency.
    • With your family, friends or housemates, run through different scenarios so you’re on the same page.
    • Businesses must understand their responsibilities to their employees during extreme heat and have plans to manage these.

Do prepare but don’t panic

    • As these risks build and become more severe, we can no longer just think “she’ll be right”.
    • As climate risks expand and become increasingly severe, understanding and actively planning for these risks is now an imperative.

Marine heatwaves don't just hit coral reefs. They can cause chaos on the seafloor

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 4, 2023

When water temperature goes over a seasonal threshold for five days or more, that’s a marine heatwave.

Key Points: 
  • When water temperature goes over a seasonal threshold for five days or more, that’s a marine heatwave.
  • They do their worst damage in summer, when the ocean is already at its warmest, but they can occur any time of year.
  • So it’s no surprise marine heatwaves are getting much more intense and more frequent.
  • In the most devastating marine heatwaves, heat can penetrate right down to the sea bed.

Why do deep marine heatwaves matter?

    • These shallow oceans are, on average, less than 100 metres deep.
    • When the shelf ends, there’s usually an abrupt slope into the deep ocean, where there are kilometres of water between surface and seabed.
    • Marine heatwaves are damaging to life in the seas covering the continental shelf.
    • When marine heatwaves strike, they can kill.

We don’t know much about deeper marine heatwaves

    • Instruments are subject to high pressure, corrosive salt water and marine organisms like oysters and sponges settling on them.
    • This is one reason why we only have very limited data on long-term trends in temperatures under the surface.
    • Our earlier research found marine heatwaves at depth can actually be more intense and last longer compared to the surface.
    • We found marine heatwaves come in a variety of types and have different causes.
    • For instance, winter marine heatwaves often run from surface to seafloor.

Marine heatwaves are not created equally

    • Of course, slowing ocean warming and preventing marine heatwaves from damaging ecosystems means slashing carbon emissions.
    • Read more:
      Coral reefs: How climate change threatens the hidden diversity of marine ecosystems

      Amandine Schaeffer receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Machines can't always take the heat − two engineers explain the physics behind how heat waves threaten everything from cars to computers

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Many machines, including cellphones, data centers, cars and airplanes, become less efficient and degrade more quickly in extreme heat.

Key Points: 
  • Many machines, including cellphones, data centers, cars and airplanes, become less efficient and degrade more quickly in extreme heat.
  • Machines generate their own heat, too, which can make hot temperatures around them even hotter.
  • We are engineering researchers who study how machines manage heat and ways to effectively recover and reuse heat that is otherwise wasted.

Deforming materials

    • Higher temperatures, either from the weather or the excess heat radiated from machinery, can cause materials in machinery to deform.
    • So the hotter it is, the more the molecules that make up everything from the air to the ground to materials in machinery vibrate.

Travel delays and safety risks

    • High temperatures can also change the way oils in your car’s engine behave, leading to potential engine failures.
    • As it gets hotter outside, air starts to expand and takes up more space than before, making it thinner or less dense.
    • This reduction in air density decreases the amount of weight the plane can support during flight, which can cause significant travel delays or flight cancellations.

Battery degradation

    • So as the temperature increases, different kinds of materials deform differently, potentially leading to premature wear and failure.
    • Lithium ion batteries in cars and general electronics degrade faster at higher operating temperatures.
    • This is because higher temperatures increase the rate of reactions within the battery, including corrosion reactions that deplete the lithium in the battery.
    • Recent research shows that electric vehicles can lose about 20% of their range when exposed to sustained 90-degree Farenheit weather.

Struggling air conditioners

    • Air conditioners struggle to perform effectively as it gets hotter outside – just when they’re needed the most.
    • On hot days, air conditioner compressors have to work harder to send the heat from homes outside, which in turn disproportionally increases electricity consumption and overall electricity demand.

How to prevent heat damage

    • Heat waves and warming temperatures around the globe pose significant short- and long-term problems for people and machines alike.
    • Fortunately, there are things you can do to minimize the damage.

Reusing heat

    • One simple example is using the waste heat from data centers to heat water.
    • Extreme heat can affect every aspect of modern life, and heat waves aren’t going away in the coming years.

Motorcar Parts of America Reports Fiscal First Quarter Results

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Motorcar Parts of America, Inc. (Nasdaq: MPAA) today reported results for its fiscal 2024 first quarter ended June 30, 2023, and reiterated the company’s full-year outlook.

Key Points: 
  • Motorcar Parts of America, Inc. (Nasdaq: MPAA) today reported results for its fiscal 2024 first quarter ended June 30, 2023, and reiterated the company’s full-year outlook.
  • The company noted that the fiscal second quarter is off to an excellent start based on record sales for a July month.
  • Results for the quarter were impacted by changes in product mix and lingering inflationary costs not fully absorbed by price increases.
  • The most recent price increases late in the fiscal first quarter will be realized throughout the fiscal 2024 second quarter.

Science shows the severe climate consequences of new fossil fuel extraction

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 2, 2023

So it’s extremely concerning that the UK government has announced its intention to grant hundreds of licences for new North Sea oil and gas extraction.

Key Points: 
  • So it’s extremely concerning that the UK government has announced its intention to grant hundreds of licences for new North Sea oil and gas extraction.
  • Although burning fossil fuels to generate power and heat has enabled society to develop and flourish, we are now experiencing the unintended side effects.
  • This warming will continue, with worsening climatic consequences, until we reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to “net zero”.
  • New fossil fuel extraction projects will make it even harder to stop further global warming.

As heat records fall, how hot is too hot for the human body?

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Extreme heat has been breaking records across Europe, Asia and North America, with millions of people sweltering in heat and humidity well above “normal” for days on end.

Key Points: 
  • Extreme heat has been breaking records across Europe, Asia and North America, with millions of people sweltering in heat and humidity well above “normal” for days on end.
  • Death Valley hit a temperature of 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.3 degrees Celsius) on July 16, 2023 – not quite the world’s hottest day on record, but close.
  • Heat waves are becoming supercharged as the climate changes – lasting longer, becoming more frequent and getting just plain hotter.

The limits of human adaptability

    • Scientists and other observers have become alarmed about the increasing frequency of extreme heat paired with high humidity.
    • In the Middle East, Asaluyeh, Iran, recorded an extremely dangerous maximum wet-bulb temperature of 92.7 F (33.7 C) on July 16, 2023 – above our measured upper limit of human adaptability to humid heat.
    • It was not until recently that this limit was tested on humans in laboratory settings.

The PSU H.E.A.T. Project

    • These experiments provide insight into which combinations of temperature and humidity begin to become harmful for even the healthiest humans.
    • Each participant swallowed a small telemetry pill that continuously monitored their deep body or core temperature.
    • They then sat in an environmental chamber, moving just enough to simulate the minimal activities of daily living, such as showering, cooking and eating.
    • That would equal 87 F at 100% humidity or 100 F (38 C) at 60% humidity.

Dry vs. humid environments

    • In hot, dry environments the critical environmental limits aren’t defined by wet-bulb temperatures, because almost all the sweat the body produces evaporates, which cools the body.
    • However, the amount humans can sweat is limited, and we also gain more heat from the higher air temperatures.
    • Keep in mind that these cutoffs are based solely on keeping your body temperature from rising excessively.

How to stay safe

    • W. Larry Kenney receives research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging.
    • Daniel Vecellio is supported by a training grant from the National Institute on Aging through the Penn State Center for Healthy Aging.
    • Rachel Cottle is supported by a training grant from the National Institute on Aging through the Penn State Center for Healthy Aging.

European heatwave: what’s causing it and is climate change to blame?

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 14, 2023

Italy, in particular, is expected to face blistering heat, with temperatures projected to reach 40℃ to 45℃.

Key Points: 
  • Italy, in particular, is expected to face blistering heat, with temperatures projected to reach 40℃ to 45℃.
  • There’s even a chance that the current European temperature record of 48.8℃, set in Sicily in 2021, could be surpassed.
  • Searing temperatures have spread to other countries in southern and eastern Europe, including France, Spain, Poland and Greece.
  • According to the Italian Meteorological Society, the Cerberus heatwave is expected to persist for around two weeks.

What role does climate change play?

    • It’s difficult to ascribe a single event, such as a heatwave, directly to climate change.
    • Research by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms this trend.
    • The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service attributed these unusually hot conditions to climate change and suggested that such events are likely to become more frequent, intense and last longer in the future – indicating a concerning trend that may continue this year.

The dangers of extreme heat

    • Dehydration resulting from the heat can also affect respiratory and cardiovascular performance.
    • Extreme heat can damage road surfaces and even cause railway tracks to buckle.
    • Research indicates that extreme heat has already had a negative impact on economic growth in Europe, lowering it by up to 0.5% over the past decade.
    • This is due to the heat that is already absorbed and retained by the oceans.

Canada wildfires: an area larger than the Netherlands has been burned so far this year -- here's what is causing them

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, June 17, 2023

The fires have burned millions of hectares of land, displaced tens of thousands of people and disrupted the lives of millions.

Key Points: 
  • The fires have burned millions of hectares of land, displaced tens of thousands of people and disrupted the lives of millions.
  • Smoke from fires in the Canadian province of Quebec blew down into the US, turning the New York skyline orange.
  • This episode of unprecedented air pollution has drawn global attention to the fires.

Unusual timing, size, and location

    • They remove debris and undergrowth from the forest floor, open up the forest canopy to sunlight, kill insects and diseases that harm trees and add valuable nutrients to the ground.
    • But this year’s fire season is unique because it is not isolated to a particular province.
    • In Quebec alone, over 400 wildfires have been reported so far this year – twice the historical average.

What’s causing the fires?

    • A particularly warm and dry spring across much of Canada has set the scene for the current wildfire situation.
    • In May this year, parts of Nova Scotia reported less than 50% of their average monthly precipitation.
    • Heatwaves pushed temperatures well above normal for this time of the year in British Columbia and in Nova Scotia.

The role of climate change

    • There is little doubt that climate change has played an important role in the blazes across Canada.
    • Extreme heat is made much more likely by climate change and since the mid-20th century, temperatures in Canada have been increasing faster than in many other parts of the world.
    • However, these more intense fires are not entirely the fault of climate change.
    • The way humans now use forests also plays a role.

Government of Canada invests $42.9 million to support individuals and the health sector to adapt to our changing climate

Retrieved on: 
Friday, May 26, 2023

Today, as part of the Government of Canada's National Adaptation Strategy and the Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan , the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced that Health Canada will invest up to $43 million over the next five years to fund programs that will support the health sector and people in Canada to adapt to a changing climate.

Key Points: 
  • Today, as part of the Government of Canada's National Adaptation Strategy and the Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan , the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced that Health Canada will invest up to $43 million over the next five years to fund programs that will support the health sector and people in Canada to adapt to a changing climate.
  • These investments will help protect individuals from existing and emerging health risks caused by climate change and build health systems that adapt and adjust to our changing climate.
  • Last year's report: Mobilizing Public Health Action on Climate Change , discusses the impacts of climate change and health.
  • Health Canada is co-chairing the Climate-Resilient Health Systems Working Group of the Alliance on Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) led by the WHO.