As a way of increasing awareness toward the deadly risk of extreme heat, which people often ignore, advocates and experts are exploring a new ranking system applying names to California’s heat waves for greater safety.
California to name heat waves to alert the public to danger
Every year, officials remind the public that extreme heat is the number one cause of weather-related deaths. Unfortunately, such warnings often go unheeded.
Because the effects of the heatwave can often seem subtle, it leads to the danger of death being perceived as low risk.
Because heat is a silent killer, the danger is often vastly underestimated, especially compared to those that occur during powerful storms, fires, or flooding, despite the fact that heat is the #1 killer in America.
Now, a panel of experts is looking at ways to provide “a shock to the system” to change this perception in an effort to reduce the number of deaths due to extreme heat.
Legislation could go into effect in 2024
An advisory group called the Adrienne Arsht Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, an organization focusing on policy solutions to the climate crisis advised California on new legislation that was introduced last year, the Guardian reports.
The legislation proposes using a naming and ranking system, similar to the one now used for categorizing storms, which dates back to the 1800s.
California would not be alone, as Seville, Spain, and Athens, Greece plans to roll out similar programs later this year amid a warming global climate.
If the legislation passes, it would establish the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program to coordinate state efforts in California and coordinate with local and regional officials, taking effect at the beginning of 2024. In addition, the program would also coordinate between federal programs.
Excessive heat is the #1 weather killer in US
The highest number of weather-related deaths that occurred in the US between the years 1990-2019 was caused by excessive heat, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with an average of 138 fatalities due to excessive heat, Fox reported.
The number is more than double the average yearly deaths from tornadoes (65), more than triple those from tropical storms (45) and lightning strikes (41), and nearly double of those who die in floods (88).
2020 tied with 2016 as the hottest on record, according to NASA.
For more information on heat precautions, visit the CDC website.
