New York City is amid its hottest stretch of the year — with max daily temperatures since the start of July averaging around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This hot spell is not only uncomfortable, but it’s harming people.
Over this two-week period, the city Health Department recorded nearly 150 heat-related emergency room visits, while the same timeframe at the end of June witnessed only 20.
Despite these trends and as summer’s midpoint approaches, city officials have not opened municipal cooling centers, a network of more than 500 sites peppered across the five boroughs. Activating these air-conditioned facilities is part of NYC’s legally mandated plan for dealing with heat waves — but this public health lever comes with a rule.
The city does not open cooling centers until the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory, and that doesn’t happen until the forecasted heat index reaches 95 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit for at least two consecutive days or any single day of 100 degrees or more. The National Weather Service told Gothamist that some parts of the city hit very close to this mark this week, but the pattern was not widespread nor prolonged enough to justify an advisory.
But health experts told Gothamist that, while this threshold might be a good guideline for healthy people with working air conditioners, the conditions could already be too hot for residents more susceptible to the heat, such as older adults, people who are homeless or workers engaging in outside activities.
Sports studies and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) state that heat-related illness can occur at temperatures as low as 65 degrees Fahrenheit when a person is heavily exerting themselves and during high humidity.
“One of the important things when we talk about heat exposure is the environment,” said Dr. Uwe Reischl, a public health professor at Boise State University. “Heat stress is the result of a combination of air temperature and then humidity and the…
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