The West Coast is notoriously dry and hot during the summer season, but June 2021 has proven to be among the hottest on record ever, causing massive water shortages across rural regions of the Southwest and West up and down California, contributing not only to hardships economically on farmers and increased chances of deadly wildfires but sending thermostat dials plummeting and utility bills skyrocketing on top of it all.
According to Climate.com, at the end of June, “one of, if not the, worst heatwave in the region’s modern records impacted the Pacific Northwest of the United States and western Canada during late June 2021… A week after a heatwave broke records across the Southwest and northern Mountain West, a second, even more anomalous, heatwave occurred across the Pacific Northwest. It sent records toppling. Over a four-day period, June 26-29, daytime high temperatures skyrocketed to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, setting all-time records at dozens of locations. Portland, Oregon’s, average high temperature over this period was 112 degrees. Seattle, Washington, also had back-to-back days that set all-time heat records: 108 on June 28 after reaching 104 the day prior. In fact, in the previous 126 years, Seattle had only hit 100 degrees three times. It reached that mark in three consecutive days in June.”
Kicking LIHEAP applications into overdrive around the country where the story is much the same with heatwaves, as a reminder of just how essential cooled indoor climates are to the elderly, Reuters reported the tragic news that “the state of Oregon reported 63 deaths linked to the heatwave. Multnomah County, which includes Portland, reported 45 of those deaths since Friday, with the county Medical Examiner citing hyperthermia as the preliminary cause. By comparison, all of Oregon had only 12 deaths from hyperthermia from 2017 to 2019, the statement said. Across the state, hospitals reported a surge of hundreds of visits in recent days due to heat-related illness, the Oregon Health Authority said.”
Highlighting just how essential a necessity climate-cooled housing is to survive the summer months in most major cities and rural towns alike, CNN in an editorial, underscored that “while utility companies scramble to keep up with increasing demand for cooling, some low-income families cannot even afford the cost of an air conditioner, let alone the cost of the electricity needed to power the unit. That means the nation’s most vulnerable families are at high risk for heat-related illnesses…Congress needs to fully fund the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help the most vulnerable afford to keep their homes cool and livable during these historic heatwaves. LIHEAP is a federal program designed to help families pay their heating and cooling bills and provide basic weatherization services. Heatwaves are a public health issue.”
Reporting by J.B.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/04/perspectives/heat-waves-low-income-americans/index.html