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In his 40 years in the emergency room, David Sklar can think of three moments in his career when he was terrified.
“One of them was when the Aids epidemic hit, the second was Covid, and now there’s this,” the Phoenix physician said, referring to his city’s unrelenting heat. Last month was the city’s hottest June on record, with temperatures averaging 97F (36C), and scientists say Phoenix is on track to experience its hottest summer on record this year.
“All three of these situations are sort of disasters, where we became overwhelmed by something that had really serious effects on a large part of our population.”
In recent months, Sklar and his colleagues have seen waves of patients coming into the ER with heatstroke, dehydration and even asphalt burns.
He described seeing several patients in a single shift with heatstroke. “Typically people aren’t talking at all, they’re just breathing and gasping and are in very bad shape,” he said of the most severe cases.
As the climate crisis intensifies and […]
Feels as if we’re close to the climate end zone. I still remember clearly how I felt once I’d finished a climate report that the Italian government paid for. I tapped the CNA Central Naval Analysis, a think tank I’m sure you’re aware. A source used by all branches of the US military for climate change data. As you know, it’s been a long, painful downward slide to where we are now. That said, the awareness and the movement have called in needed changes and I hear diffferent stories from different and trusted sources. Heaven help us if DJT is elected. He’s publicly vowed to block and destroy the groups who worked so tirelessly for so long. Breaks my heart. All the branches of the military were informed and we’re still not receive data or confirmation from them, which I found outrageous.