in thousands of Homeless people’s life in danger in Phoenix, the hottest big city in The United States is very hot on Streets in deadly maximum temperature.
hundreds of Blue, green and gray tents erected under the scorching sun in the middle of the city, a mixture of Flimsy cloth and plastic along dusty sidewalks.
stifling tent city It swelled with pandemic-era evictions and rising rents that dumped hundreds more people In the noisy streets that enjoy an eerie calm when the temperatures reach their peak in afternoon. a heat A wave earlier this month brought temperatures of up to 114 degrees Fahrenheit (45.5 degrees Celsius) – which is only June. Elevations reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit last year.
“During the summer, it’s beautiful hard to find place At night it’s cool enough to sleep without the police turning you off, said Chris Medlock, a well-known homeless man on Phoenix. on Streets as “T-Bone” who He carries everything he owns in a small backpack and often bed down in A park or desert reserve nearby avoid The crowds.
“If a good soul can just Advance place on Couch them inside maybe more people Will be live,” said Medlock in the homeless dining room people Can get some shade and a free meal.
Excessive, extremist, reckless heat causes more weather- related deaths in United States of hurricanes, floods and hurricanes combined.
all over the country , heat It contributes to about 1,500 deaths annually, and its advocates estimate half of those people They are homeless.
Temperatures rising Almost everywhere because of global warming and collecting with brutal drought in Some places that can be created more Intense, repetitive and prolonged heat waves. The past Some summers were few of The Most exciting on record.
Just in The county that includes Phoenix, at least 130 homeless people They were among 339 people who died from heat-tied causes in 2021.
“If 130 is homeless people they were dying in any thing else way He will be considered a mass victim event’ said Kristi L. Ibe, professor of global University health of Washington.
it’s a problem that stretches across the United States, and now, with rising global Temperatures , heat no longer file danger just in Places like Phoenix.
This summer is likely to bring higher than usual temperatures over Most of the land areas around the world, according to a seasonal map created by volunteer climate scientists for International Research Institute at Columbia University.
Last summer, a heat A wave swept the usually temperate northwestern United States and the residents of Seattle slept in they yards And the on Bishops, or flee to hotels with air conditioning. Throughout the state, several people Presumably homeless died in the open air, including a fallen man behind Petrol station.
In Oregon, officials opened 24-hour cooling centers for The first time. volunteering teams obsessed out with Water and ice cream for displaced persons camps on Portland suburbs.
A quick scientific analysis last year Pacific Northwest heat The wave would have been virtually impossible without man-caused Add climate change several degrees and drop previous records.
Even Boston is exploring ways to protect diverse neighborhoods like Chinatown, where population Density and few shade trees help drive Temperatures up To 106 degrees Fahrenheit on some summer days. The city plans Strategies like Increase the canopy of trees and other types of the shadow using cooler materials for Ceilings and extensions network of cooling centers during heat waves.
Hot summer threatens life around the world
it’s not just United State problem. Associated Press analysis last year of A dataset published by Columbia University’s School of Climate found severe exposure heat Tripled and now affects about quarter of The world’s population.
This spring, an extremist heat The wave took so much of Pakistan and India, where homelessness is widespread due to discrimination and inadequate housing. High in Jacobabad, Pakistan near the border with India hit 122 degrees Fahrenheit in mayo.
Dr.. Dilip Mavalanker, who He heads the Indian Institute of Public Health in West Indian city Gandhinagar, because of poor report unknown how many die in country from heat open.
Summer Cooling Centers for The homeless, the elderly and other vulnerable groups have been opened in many Europeans countries every summer since a heat kill wave 70,000 people across Europe in 2003.
emergency service workers on Bikes patrol the streets of Madrid, distributing snow and water bags in The hot months. Still, about 1300 peoplebone of Including the elderly, continue die in Spain every summer because of Health complications exacerbated by the increase heat.
Spain and Southern France last A very hot week due to unusual heat weather for mid-June with Temperatures reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit in Some areas.
climate scientist David Hindula who Phoenix Heads new office for heat mitigation, says who – which with like this extreme weather Now looking around the world more Solutions are needed to protect the vulnerable, especially the homeless people who about 200 times more Most likely from protected individuals die From heat-tied causes.
As the temperatures continue rise across the United States and worldcities like Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, or Kansas City that do not have experience or infrastructure for deal with heat You have to adapt, too.”
In Phoenix, officials and advocates hope there will be a vacancy building Recently converted into a 200 bed shelter for homeless people will help Save lives this summer.
Mac Mace, 34, was among first to me move in.
It can be cruel in miss said who was homeless on And the off Since he was a teenager. “Here, I can stay out comfort in fact, work on Job requests, stay out of The heat. “
in Las Vegas, teams Delivering bottled water to the homeless people living in Camps around the province and within a network of Underground rainwater drainage under the Las Vegas Strip.
Ahmedabad, India, population 8.4 million, was first South Asia city to me design a heat Action Plan in 2013.
through warning systemnon-governmental groups arrive out for the weak people and send text messages to mobile phones. Water tanks are sent to slums, while bus stops, temples and libraries are turned into shelters for people to me escape Ulcerated rays.
Still, the pile of deaths up.
Kimberly Ray Howes, 62-yearHomeless woman, badly burned in October 2020 while sprawling for a unknown amount of time on Phoenix Blacktop Whiz. The cause of her later death It was never investigated.
a young The man nicknamed Twitch died from heat exposure while sitting on Pier near Phoenix Soup Kitchen in The hours before opening it one weekend in 2018.
“It was supposed to move in permanent residence next Jim Baker said, who Overseeing that dining room for Saint Vincent de Paul Charitable Foundation. “for him mother Destroyed. “
Many of these deaths have never been confirmed heat Relevant and not always noticed because of stigma of Homelessness and lack of contact family.
when he is 62-year- A mentally ill old woman named Shauna Wright has died last the summer in hot alley in Salt Lake City, her death became known only when her family Posted an obituary saying that system failed To protect it during the hottest month of July on recordwhen temperatures reached the three digits.
Her sister Tricia Wright said she makes it easier for homeless people Obtaining permanent housing will take a long time way To protect them from the sweltering summer temperatures.
“We always thought it was tough, and she could get through it,” said Tricia Wright. of her sister. “but not one hard enough for This type of heat. “
