The Challenges in Handling Rising Temperatures in Reporting
In the scorching summer months, the national media often spotlight cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas, where extreme heat is a familiar foe. However, as climate reporter Joan Meiners of the Arizona Republic aptly points out, the heat's reach extends far beyond these cities. Everybody, regardless of location, must prepare for this looming challenge.
When it comes to heat journalism, the best stories serve an essential public service. They inform citizens about available resources, offer advice on modifying daily routines during extreme heat, and shed light on the most vulnerable members of society.
In 2023, Meiners published a series of articles on the intersection of extreme heat and housing insecurity. She depicted those most affected by the heat, such as the homeless, outdoor workers, and individuals waiting at bus stops.
Photographer Bridget Bennett, who captured the effects of extreme heat in Las Vegas in June 2023, documented similar scenes. Her work often showcases the toll heat takes on a body, with people hunched over, crouched, and sprawled flat on makeshift beds.
Heat can exacerbate underlying health issues, leading to complications such as stillbirths, premature births, and the development of kidney disease. It can also have long-term effects, worsening conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Tragically, deaths from heat are often underreported. Medical examiners may take two to three months to determine heat as the official cause of death.
The city of Las Vegas, with its searing-hot summers, is all too familiar with the dangers of extreme heat. Power lines sag during these periods, posing a fire risk. The increased use of air-conditioning during heat waves strains the electrical grid, threatening blackouts.
Environment reporter Hayley Smith calls extreme heat "insidious" due to the invisible damage it causes. Local journalists, following their city's lead, inform the public about the signs of heatstroke, legal rights during heat waves, and the dangers of pavement burns, a common injury caused by high heat.
Despite heat being the deadliest weather-related disaster in the US, claiming more lives annually than any other, it receives little government response. The Federal Emergency Management Agency does not consider extreme heat worthy of federal funding.
Extreme heat is more than just a meteorological event; it's a story with a particular setting, a cast of characters, and different dramatic flash points. Yet, it doesn't receive the same level of media coverage as other disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, or floods.
In some states, it is illegal for utility companies to cut off heat in the wintertime. However, in many states, utility companies can legally cut off electricity, and thus air-conditioning, during high temperatures.
Meteorologists measure various aspects of heat, including regular old air temperature, apparent temperature, and wet-bulb globe temperature, to understand its impact.
In 2022, a series from the Los Angeles Times revealed that California regularly undercounts its heat deaths. Freelance photojournalist Bridget Bennett, who publishes regularly in the New York Times and the Washington Post, covers heat and seeks out places that show "how deeply heat creeps into the fabric of daily life," such as food trucks, mechanic shops, and delivery vans.
Photojournalist Ed Kashi has documented the effects of extreme heat on outdoor workers and described an epidemic of chronic kidney disease among sugarcane harvesters in Nicaragua. His work, like Bennett's, serves as a stark reminder of the silent crisis that extreme heat poses to our health and wellbeing.
In a recent Associated Press story by Seth Borenstein on New York's heat wave last month, meteorologists' quotes were woven into reporting from daily life around the Northeast, providing a comprehensive view of the issue. Local news stories play a crucial role in educating the public about extreme heat, offering vital information at a time when it's needed most.
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