WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.500 Welcome to the Meteorology Matters podcast. You 00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:06.759 know, we often talk about extreme heat, and our 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:09.259 first thought usually jumps to the really serious 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:12.699 stuff, heat stroke, people dying, the absolute 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:15.679 worst cases. Yeah, the headlines. Exactly. It's 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:20.059 dangerous, no question. But what if? What if 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:22.140 the warming world is actually making us sick 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:25.500 in ways we don't even realize? Ways that go well. 00:00:25.609 --> 00:00:27.850 way beyond those immediate life -threatening 00:00:27.850 --> 00:00:30.170 events. It's a really important shift in how 00:00:30.170 --> 00:00:32.189 we look at it, isn't it? For this Meteorology 00:00:32.189 --> 00:00:34.049 Matters podcast, we want to kind of peel back 00:00:34.049 --> 00:00:36.909 those layers, move beyond just the heat deaths. 00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:40.450 OK. We're going to dig into some pretty new research 00:00:40.450 --> 00:00:42.710 that's showing these broader health impacts of 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:45.350 rising temperatures, stuff that affects us in 00:00:45.350 --> 00:00:47.789 ways we're only just starting to properly understand. 00:00:47.990 --> 00:00:49.329 And while we're doing that, we're also going 00:00:49.329 --> 00:00:51.390 to look at something pretty cool, these ancient 00:00:51.390 --> 00:00:53.890 cooling ideas that are suddenly really relevant 00:00:53.890 --> 00:00:57.009 again. Right. for new problems, it's fascinating 00:00:57.009 --> 00:00:59.310 stuff. Yeah. And then finally, we'll get into 00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:02.270 the economic side of it, how your ability to 00:01:02.270 --> 00:01:05.129 stay cool globally is really divided. It's a 00:01:05.129 --> 00:01:07.370 stark difference, yeah. Heat hits different places, 00:01:07.709 --> 00:01:10.870 different people, really unevenly. Exactly. So 00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:13.769 the goal today is to give you a really full picture 00:01:13.769 --> 00:01:16.650 of how heat touches, well, pretty much everything, 00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:19.909 our health, obviously, but also... like the global 00:01:19.909 --> 00:01:22.329 economy. It's way more pervasive than you might 00:01:22.329 --> 00:01:24.189 think. Hopefully it'll change how you think about 00:01:24.189 --> 00:01:26.549 adapting to a hotter planet. Okay, so let's start 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:29.670 by maybe challenging some common ideas. Yeah. 00:01:29.890 --> 00:01:32.569 When we talk about heat and health, the conversation, 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:34.769 historically anyway, has been really focused 00:01:34.769 --> 00:01:38.370 on mortality. You know, deaths from heat. Sure, 00:01:38.469 --> 00:01:40.030 that's what gets the attention. It's dramatic. 00:01:40.209 --> 00:01:42.730 Right. But there's this new research, especially 00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:44.709 coming out of California, that's shifting the 00:01:44.709 --> 00:01:48.230 focus, looking more at the whole range of illness, 00:01:49.629 --> 00:01:52.430 poor health, what scientists call morbidity. 00:01:52.650 --> 00:01:55.170 Yeah, morbidity. It's a small word, but a huge 00:01:55.170 --> 00:01:56.750 difference in perspective. It's about seeing 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:59.469 the whole iceberg, not just the tip. OK, explain 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:02.260 that. Well, this specific research looked at 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:04.819 a ton of data from California emergency rooms, 00:02:05.019 --> 00:02:07.760 like 11 years worth, from 2006 up to 2017. Wow, 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:10.240 that's a lot of data. It is. And Carlos Gould, 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:12.039 he's an environmental health scientist, the lead 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:14.120 author on the paper. He pointed this out exactly. 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:15.960 He said, look, scientists have studied heat deaths 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:19.080 for decades. We know a lot about that. But our 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:23.280 understanding of the morbidity side, it's relatively 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.159 poor, as he put it. So this research is trying 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:29.159 to fill that gap. Precisely. Moving beyond just 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.219 the worst outcome. Death, to understand the everyday 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:34.960 toll. What actually happens to people's health 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:36.879 day to day when it gets hot? And what do they 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.639 find? Did it show a link? Oh yeah, very clearly. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.300 Gould says, deaths are really just the tip of 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:43.979 the iceberg when you look at how temperature 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:46.599 affects society. The data showed this really 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:50.599 consistent trend. Between 2006 and 2017, ER visits 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.500 in California, they went up consistently as temperatures 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:55.500 went up. Every time it got hotter, more people 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:58.199 ended up in the ER. Exactly, not just a fluke. 00:02:58.270 --> 00:03:01.069 A clear, persistent pattern. And that must put 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:03.569 a huge strain on the healthcare system. A massive 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:05.669 strain. Think about, it's not just a one -off 00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:08.469 event, it's this ongoing pressure. You need more 00:03:08.469 --> 00:03:11.069 beds, more staff, more supplies, the admin load 00:03:11.069 --> 00:03:14.009 goes up. Every heat wave just adds to it. It 00:03:14.009 --> 00:03:16.610 stretches the whole system thin. Yeah, you can 00:03:16.610 --> 00:03:18.629 see how that would build up. It's not just about 00:03:18.629 --> 00:03:20.669 treating individuals, it's about whether the 00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:24.180 whole system can actually cope. And what kind 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:26.300 of illnesses were people going to the ER for? 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:29.580 Was it just heat stroke and dehydration? Well, 00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:31.919 yeah, those were there, obviously. But what's 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:33.639 really interesting, maybe even surprising, is 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:36.000 the range of other things they found linked to 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.960 rising temperatures. Like what? Okay, so increases 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:41.719 in ER visits for things related to poison exposure. 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:45.009 Poison? How does heat link to poison? We'll get 00:03:45.009 --> 00:03:46.770 into the complexities of that connection later, 00:03:46.969 --> 00:03:49.750 but yeah, poison. Also more respiratory problems 00:03:49.750 --> 00:03:51.909 and even issues with the nervous system. Wow, 00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:54.050 so it's much broader than just, I got too hot. 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:58.830 Much broader. It really expands how we need to 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:01.969 think about heat's impact physiologically, maybe 00:04:01.969 --> 00:04:05.090 even behaviorally. It's not just about the direct 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:07.870 thermal stress. Okay, so explain the physiological 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:10.490 stress part. How does heat actually do that? 00:04:10.870 --> 00:04:14.060 Well, your body... is working incredibly hard 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:16.920 to cool down, right? Your heart has to pump faster, 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:19.500 sending more blood to your skin to try and release 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:22.500 heat. That puts a big strain on your cardiovascular 00:04:22.500 --> 00:04:26.199 system. And your kidneys, they're working overtime 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:28.680 trying to hold on to water, which can lead to 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.199 dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, kidney damage. 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:34.420 So if someone already has health issues. Exactly. 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:37.859 If you've got pre -existing conditions, heart 00:04:37.859 --> 00:04:41.480 problems, kidney disease, asthma, COPD, even 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:44.259 neurological stuff like MS, this extra stress 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:46.800 from the heat, it seriously increases your risk 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:48.620 of complications. Your body just doesn't have 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:51.019 the same reserves to cope. That makes sense. 00:04:51.220 --> 00:04:53.300 And the study mentioned a specific group that 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:55.639 was particularly vulnerable. Yes, and this is 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.339 really stark. Children under five. Little kids. 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:00.939 Yeah. They showed up in emergency rooms at a 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:03.120 significantly higher rate than any other age 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.180 group on those hotter days. Why is that? Well, 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:08.389 Several reasons. Their bodies can't regulate 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:11.230 temperature as well as adults. They heat up faster 00:05:11.230 --> 00:05:14.290 because they're smaller. And crucially, they 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:16.350 often can't tell you clearly when they're feeling 00:05:16.350 --> 00:05:18.850 unwell or too hot. Right. They rely on adults 00:05:18.850 --> 00:05:22.439 to notice. Totally. So they're incredibly dependent 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:25.439 on caregivers to recognize the signs of heat 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.720 stress and take action. That finding alone really 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.620 highlights the need for targeted help, doesn't 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:33.480 it? Absolutely. It screams for specific public 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.339 health actions. You know, maybe more accessible 00:05:36.339 --> 00:05:38.379 cooling centers in neighborhoods with lots of 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:40.879 young families or better education for parents. 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.769 Eat. Because the risks for them are higher. Much 00:05:46.769 --> 00:05:49.589 higher. Not just discomfort, but potentially 00:05:49.589 --> 00:05:52.350 serious long -term health problems, even affecting 00:05:52.350 --> 00:05:54.610 development if they get severe heat exposure. 00:05:55.149 --> 00:05:56.629 Okay, now here's something that sounds a bit 00:05:56.629 --> 00:05:59.149 confusing at first. You said heat is the most 00:05:59.149 --> 00:06:02.050 lethal extreme weather. Right, meaning it directly 00:06:02.050 --> 00:06:04.670 causes more deaths than things like floods or 00:06:04.670 --> 00:06:07.750 tornadoes on average. But then most temperature 00:06:07.750 --> 00:06:10.329 -related deaths globally aren't actually from 00:06:10.329 --> 00:06:12.529 heat, they're from cold. How does that work? 00:06:12.649 --> 00:06:15.149 Yeah, it seems counterintuitive, but it's likely 00:06:15.149 --> 00:06:18.810 about exposure time. Globally, people just spend 00:06:18.810 --> 00:06:21.689 way more time exposed to moderately cool temperatures 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:24.610 than they do to extreme heat waves. So it's more 00:06:24.610 --> 00:06:27.610 about chronic exposure to cold versus shorter, 00:06:28.110 --> 00:06:31.730 intense heat events. Exactly. That longer, more 00:06:31.730 --> 00:06:34.129 pervasive exposure to cooler temperatures can 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:37.649 contribute to things like respiratory and cardiovascular 00:06:37.649 --> 00:06:40.129 problems over time, maybe more subtly. Okay, 00:06:40.209 --> 00:06:41.870 that makes more sense. And then climate change 00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:44.850 adds another layer of complexity. Some models 00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:47.509 suggest that as the planet warms overall, we 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:49.990 might actually see fewer total temperature -related 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:53.100 deaths. Fewer deaths because of less cold. Potentially, 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:55.160 yeah, fewer cold related deaths, but, and this 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:57.779 is a huge, but this effect would be incredibly 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:00.240 unequal. How so? Hotter, less wealthy countries. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:02.779 They're projected to see a big increase in heat 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:05.220 deaths because they often lack the infrastructure, 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:08.899 the resources, the widespread AC to cope. Meanwhile, 00:07:09.259 --> 00:07:12.379 colder, wealthier countries might see that decrease 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:15.600 in cold deaths and maybe even fewer heat deaths 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.459 because they have better ways to adapt. It highlights 00:07:18.459 --> 00:07:21.819 a massive equity issue baked into climate change. 00:07:21.899 --> 00:07:23.560 Which brings us to a really important ethical 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:25.620 point from Christy Eby. She's a professor at 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:26.980 the Center for Health and Global Environment. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.199 She warns against this idea of trading off deaths. 00:07:31.470 --> 00:07:34.449 from heat versus cold. Right, her point is powerful. 00:07:34.689 --> 00:07:37.850 People are not fungible. You can't just balance 00:07:37.850 --> 00:07:40.230 the books, saying fewer cold deaths makes up 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:42.170 for more heat deaths somewhere else. Yeah, that 00:07:42.170 --> 00:07:44.910 feels wrong. It is wrong. Every life matters. 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:47.970 Every illness causes suffering. The goal of public 00:07:47.970 --> 00:07:50.649 health, as Evie says, is to prevent as much harm 00:07:50.649 --> 00:07:53.250 as possible, period. Whether it's from heat or 00:07:53.250 --> 00:07:56.209 cold, it's about protecting everyone everywhere, 00:07:56.329 --> 00:07:58.410 not treating people like statistics you can trade. 00:07:58.629 --> 00:08:01.360 So back to Carlos Gould's point, deaths are just 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.240 the tip of the iceberg. Exactly. The huge unseen 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:06.600 part is all the illness, the discomfort, the 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:09.379 lower quality of life, the economic strain that 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:12.899 heat causes. And those climbing ER visits are 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:14.980 a direct measure of that strain on our public 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:17.470 health systems. It's like a silent crisis happening 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:19.970 under the surface. And having that detailed data 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:23.189 linking specific temperatures to morbidity, not 00:08:23.189 --> 00:08:25.449 just mortality, that's what public health officials 00:08:25.449 --> 00:08:27.850 really need. To plan better. Yeah, to design 00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:29.829 interventions that don't just aim to stop people 00:08:29.829 --> 00:08:33.110 from dying, which is obviously crucial, but also 00:08:33.110 --> 00:08:35.870 reduce hospital visits, reduce illness before 00:08:35.870 --> 00:08:39.110 it gets critical. It's about shifting from reacting 00:08:39.110 --> 00:08:42.639 to crises to actively preventing them, building 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:44.860 resilience. And Gould mentions something interesting, 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:47.440 that while his data was California specific, 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:50.500 the mortality rates they saw for extreme heat 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:52.139 were actually pretty consistent with the rest 00:08:52.139 --> 00:08:54.340 of the U .S. Right, which suggests that even 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:57.120 if the exact numbers for ER visits might differ 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.779 region to region, the underlying patterns of 00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:02.240 how heat impacts health could be similar elsewhere. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:05.179 Making this California study potentially very 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:07.700 relevant nationwide. Absolutely. A vital piece 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:10.210 of the puzzle for public health everywhere. And 00:09:10.210 --> 00:09:12.889 you mentioned those less obvious ER visits, poison, 00:09:12.990 --> 00:09:15.340 respiratory, nervous system issues. Yeah, the 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:17.759 study specifically identified increases in visits 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.759 for those categories as temperatures rose. It 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.019 really broadens what we might traditionally call 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:26.240 heat -related illness. So the poison thing, for 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.360 example. It's not like heat itself is poisonous. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:31.580 No, not directly. But maybe heat changes behavior. 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.100 People store chemicals differently, maybe in 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:37.159 hotter places. Or there are more pests, so more 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:40.919 pesticide use. Or power outages lead to generator 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:43.580 use and carbon monoxide issues. The links can 00:09:43.580 --> 00:09:46.720 be Well, okay. It's a whole system. It really 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:48.759 is. Heat isn't just a thermal problem. It's a 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:51.279 systemic challenge affecting health in complex 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:53.840 ways. And the fact that kids under five are hit 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.659 hardest, that's a crucial takeaway. Absolutely 00:09:56.659 --> 00:09:58.980 critical. Highlights their vulnerability and 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:01.340 the need for specific protection. So Gould's 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:03.519 summary really sticks. Even when heat doesn't 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:05.820 kill, it hurts a lot. That says it all, doesn't 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:08.480 it? It's about that quiet erosion of health and 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.659 well -being that demands a much bigger response. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.159 Okay, so this research is clearly groundbreaking, 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.500 showing these wider health impacts, but it's 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:18.779 also important to be realistic, right? It's not 00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:21.559 always easy to draw a perfectly straight line 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:24.379 between heat and some of these specific illnesses. 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:26.879 That's a really fair point and something researchers 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.860 themselves acknowledge. Robert Mead, he's a research 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.200 fellow at Harvard's School of Public Health studying 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.299 heat's effects. He points this out. It can be 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:38.460 tricky to definitively link everything directly 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:41.659 back to heat. Why is that? Is it just statistics 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:43.879 or something else? Well, it could be statistical 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:45.879 noise that's always possible in big data sets. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.179 But Mead suggests it's more likely reflecting, 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:52.399 as he put it, a very complex interaction between 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.019 heat and people's behavior that causes this rise. 00:10:55.100 --> 00:10:57.279 OK, like the poison example we touched on. Exactly 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.440 like the poison example. Heat doesn't make poison. 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:02.240 But maybe extreme heat leads people to behave 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:03.980 differently in ways that increase their risk. 00:11:03.820 --> 00:11:06.820 storing things improperly, using more bug spray 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:09.279 because pests are worse, maybe even medication 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.340 degrading faster in heat. It's often an indirect 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:14.320 chain reaction. So it's not just physiology, 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:17.039 it's behavior triggered by the heat. Precisely. 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:20.159 The links aren't always obvious or linear. And 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:22.220 Christy Eby, who we mentioned earlier, she also 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:24.019 brought up another complicating factor, right? 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:26.500 Something the California study didn't fully account 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:28.940 for. Yes, and it's a big one, especially for 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:32.840 California. Wildfires. Ah, right. Heat and wildfires 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:35.879 often go together. They do. Wildfires are increasing 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:38.019 because of climate change, and they pump huge 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:40.960 amounts of smoke into the air. We know that smoke 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:43.980 is a major driver of cardiovascular and respiratory 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:47.000 problems, even deaths. And wildfires often happen 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.559 during hot, dry weather. Exactly. So you have 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:52.000 heat and smoke potentially happening at the same 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.980 time. If the study couldn't fully separate the 00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:56.980 effects of breathing wildfire smoke from the 00:11:56.980 --> 00:11:59.700 effects of the heat itself, some of those increased 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:02.659 ER visits for heart or lung issues might be partly 00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:05.480 due to smoke, not just the heat. So it adds another 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:07.539 layer of complexity to figuring out the exact 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:10.519 cause. It absolutely does. It doesn't mean the 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:12.379 heat findings are wrong, but it means we need 00:12:12.379 --> 00:12:14.740 to be nuanced in interpreting them, especially 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:17.799 for things like respiratory illness in fire prone 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:20.759 areas. Future research needs to try and account 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:23.480 for multiple factors like heat and air quality 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:25.500 together. That makes sense. And there was another 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:27.820 limitation EB mentioned about the timing of the 00:12:27.820 --> 00:12:29.860 data. Yeah, this one's pretty significant, too. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:33.919 The data they analyzed stopped in 2017. OK. So 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:36.779 think about the heat waves we've had since 2017. 00:12:37.659 --> 00:12:40.179 The past seven, eight years have seen some incredibly 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:43.139 intense, record -breaking heat events globally 00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:46.039 and definitely in California. Right. It feels 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.879 like it's getting worse faster. It does. And 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:51.340 society's awareness, public health responses, 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.460 maybe even how individuals behave during heat 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:55.960 waves, all that might have changed since 2017 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:58.100 because we've experienced these more extreme 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:00.100 events. So the picture might look different, 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.980 or even worse, if we had data up to today. It's 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:06.419 very possible. The 2006 -2017 data is incredibly 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:08.899 valuable, but it's a snapshot from before some 00:13:08.899 --> 00:13:11.860 of the most extreme recent heat. It might actually 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.039 be underestimating the current scale of the problem. 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:16.740 OK, so bearing those complexities and limitations 00:13:16.740 --> 00:13:19.620 in mind, What are the bigger takeaways for public 00:13:19.620 --> 00:13:22.759 health? Well, Carlos Gould's hope, really, is 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.419 that even with those caveats, this detailed data 00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:28.580 helps officials broaden their thinking to understand 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.259 who needs protection during heat waves moving 00:13:31.259 --> 00:13:33.820 beyond just preventing deaths. Thinking about 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:36.279 the whole community's health. Exactly. Because 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:40.159 the societal costs are huge. As Gould said, these 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.700 illnesses can affect kids, working families, 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:45.500 reduce our productivity, and strain our hospitals 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:47.539 and communities. Yeah, the ripple effect. They're 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:50.919 massive. Kids get sick. Parents miss work. Adults 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:53.519 get sick. Productivity drops across the board. 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:56.240 Hospitals get strained. Maybe other care gets 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.299 delayed. It's this quiet drain on our collective 00:13:59.299 --> 00:14:01.679 well -being and economy. It comes back to that 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.980 quote, even when heat doesn't kill, it hurts 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:06.299 a lot. That really sums it up. It's the chronic 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:09.019 damage, the erosion of public health that demands 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:11.320 a more comprehensive response than maybe we've 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:14.039 had before. So health systems need to adapt. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.029 They absolutely have to. Develop strategies that 00:14:17.029 --> 00:14:19.529 tackle the full range of heat problems, morbidity, 00:14:19.730 --> 00:14:22.269 not just the mortality. Look at community design, 00:14:22.450 --> 00:14:25.830 behavior, vulnerable groups. Build resilience 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:28.610 from the ground up. Every illness we prevent 00:14:28.610 --> 00:14:31.029 makes society healthier and more productive. 00:14:31.570 --> 00:14:33.830 OK, so we've talked about the hidden health impacts, 00:14:34.009 --> 00:14:36.250 which honestly can feel a bit overwhelming. It 00:14:36.250 --> 00:14:38.289 can be heavy stuff, yeah. But now let's shift 00:14:38.289 --> 00:14:40.730 gears to something really fascinating, maybe 00:14:40.730 --> 00:14:45.080 even hopeful. How some really old ideas ancient 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:47.799 wisdom might actually hold keys to dealing with 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:50.340 modern cooling challenges. Right. Looking to 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:52.960 the past for future solutions. And the challenge 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.080 is huge. Take India, for example. Get this. Only 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.440 about 20 percent of households there own an air 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:01.139 conditioner or even just a basic cooler. Fewer 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:03.620 than a third have refrigerators. Wow. Just pause 00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:06.220 on that 20 percent. That leaves hundreds of millions 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:08.419 of people incredibly vulnerable as temperatures 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:11.500 rise. It's staggering. And India had its hottest 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:15.600 year on record in 2024. Brutal heat. over 700 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:17.860 estimated deaths just that year from the heat. 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:20.120 And researchers are warning now that something 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.460 like 76 % of India's population faces high or 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:26.019 very high heat risk. It's not just uncomfortable, 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:29.379 it's a threat to survival, health, daily life. 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.240 Think about food spoilage without fridges too. 00:15:32.419 --> 00:15:35.279 It's a massive crisis needing solutions. But 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.059 amidst this, there's this simple ancient innovation 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:43.250 making a comeback. Terracotta. Baked Earth. Yeah, 00:15:43.549 --> 00:15:45.990 terracotta. It sounds so basic, but it's brilliant. 00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:49.149 Its use goes back at least 3 ,000 years, like 00:15:49.149 --> 00:15:51.929 to the Bronze Age, Harappan civilization in the 00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:53.929 Indus Valley. They used it to store water. OK, 00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:56.570 so how does it work? How does clay cool things 00:15:56.570 --> 00:15:59.389 down? It's all about evaporation. Adithya Pradyumna, 00:15:59.509 --> 00:16:00.889 an environmental health researcher, explains 00:16:00.889 --> 00:16:03.169 it really well. Terracotta is porous, right? 00:16:03.169 --> 00:16:06.129 It has tiny holes. So if you put water in it 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:09.190 or on it, The water slowly seeps into those pores 00:16:09.190 --> 00:16:11.629 and evaporates from the surface. And when water 00:16:11.629 --> 00:16:13.950 evaporates, turns from liquid to gas, it needs 00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:16.629 energy. It pulls that energy in the form of heat 00:16:16.629 --> 00:16:18.549 from its surroundings. Scientists call it the 00:16:18.549 --> 00:16:20.929 latent heat of vaporization. It literally pulls 00:16:20.929 --> 00:16:24.169 heat away. Exactly. It carries heat away as the 00:16:24.169 --> 00:16:27.230 water turns to vapor, actively cooling whatever 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:29.490 is inside the pot or even the air around it. 00:16:29.769 --> 00:16:31.649 It's like sweating evaporation from your skin 00:16:31.649 --> 00:16:34.210 cools you down. Terracotta does the same thing, 00:16:34.429 --> 00:16:37.190 passively. That's amazing. So simple. And that 00:16:37.190 --> 00:16:40.389 simplicity is its superpower, especially its 00:16:40.389 --> 00:16:43.870 affordability. Earth and terracotta pots. They 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:46.769 still cool water in rural India today. No electricity 00:16:46.769 --> 00:16:49.570 needed for maybe a dollar each. Wow, a dollar. 00:16:49.769 --> 00:16:53.110 Yeah. It's effective, cheap, requires no power 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:55.730 grid. That makes it incredibly accessible and 00:16:55.730 --> 00:16:58.149 resilient, especially where electricity is unreliable 00:16:58.149 --> 00:17:00.909 or unaffordable. It's culturally embedded, too. 00:17:01.230 --> 00:17:04.849 So how are people using this ancient idea today? 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:07.579 in modern buildings. Architects and designers 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:09.200 are getting really creative with it. They're 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:11.079 incorporating terracotta into what's kind of 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.420 passive cooling strategies. Passive cooling, 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:16.680 meaning not using machines. Right. Using smart 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.339 building design, natural materials like terracotta, 00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:22.200 clever ventilation, shading all to regulate indoor 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:24.220 temperatures naturally, working with physics 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.180 instead of fighting it with energy -guzzling 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:28.789 AC. What does that look like in practice? We're 00:17:28.789 --> 00:17:31.250 seeing things like perforated terracotta tiles 00:17:31.250 --> 00:17:33.490 used as screens on the outside of buildings. 00:17:33.509 --> 00:17:37.369 They create a thermal buffer. Ventilated facades 00:17:37.369 --> 00:17:40.269 made of terracotta that encourage natural airflow, 00:17:40.690 --> 00:17:43.390 letting hot air out and drawing cooler air in. 00:17:43.609 --> 00:17:45.650 So the building itself helps manage the heat. 00:17:45.829 --> 00:17:48.390 Exactly. And some designs even intentionally 00:17:48.390 --> 00:17:51.490 run water over or through terracotta elements 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:54.029 to maximize that evaporative cooling effect, 00:17:54.309 --> 00:17:56.329 really boosting the temperature drop. And does 00:17:56.329 --> 00:17:57.690 it actually work? Does it make a difference? 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:00.539 Oh, yeah. Research shows these passive cooling 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:03.240 approaches, often using terracotta, can cut the 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:06.400 need for air conditioning by up to 70 % in dry 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.279 or semi -dry climates. 70 %? That's huge. It's 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.460 massive. Think about arid places, parts of the 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:14.720 U .S. southwest, the Middle East, North Africa, 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.759 places getting hammered by heat. Reducing AC 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:20.220 load that much saves enormous amounts of energy, 00:18:20.619 --> 00:18:22.819 reduces carbon emissions, and takes pressure 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:24.839 off the grid. Yeah, that grid strain is a major 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:28.130 issue. It really is. So this is a win -win. lower 00:18:28.130 --> 00:18:30.849 energy use, more resilient infrastructure, ancient 00:18:30.849 --> 00:18:33.410 wisdom solving modern problems. Are there companies 00:18:33.410 --> 00:18:36.569 actually doing this now? Definitely. In India... 00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:39.309 There's Ant Studio in Delhi. They have this project 00:18:39.309 --> 00:18:42.150 called Coolant. They basically wrap concrete 00:18:42.150 --> 00:18:45.269 buildings in a terracotta second skin. Like insulation, 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:49.390 but breathable. Kinda, yeah. And Monish Sirapurapu, 00:18:49.450 --> 00:18:51.970 the founder, says they're seeing average temperature 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:54.589 drops of 6 to 8 degrees Celsius. That's about 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:57.210 10 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit across dozens of 00:18:57.210 --> 00:18:59.750 sites. And it works even better where it's drier. 00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:02.930 Wow. 6 to 8 degrees Celsius is a noticeable difference. 00:19:03.170 --> 00:19:06.460 It's significant, as Aditya Pradumna points even 00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:09.200 that kind of drop makes it much easier for the 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.680 human body to cool itself, especially indoors. 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:14.900 Less stress, better sleep, better health. Any 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:16.980 other examples? Yeah, there's a threshold in 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:19.460 Bengaluru. They repurpose recycled terracotta 00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:21.839 into breathable building facades, so it's sustainable 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:25.140 too. Cool. And then there's Midi Kool in Gujarat. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:28.180 This is amazing. The founder, Mansukh Pai Prajapati, 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:30.740 he's created a clay refrigerator. Refrigerator's 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:33.519 made of clay. No electricity. None at all. They 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.059 use the same evaporative cooling principle, and 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:38.099 they can keep food fresh for three to five days. 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.720 That's incredible, especially for places without 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.240 reliable power. It's truly invaluable. Bajapati 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.619 says many customers just can't afford to run 00:19:46.619 --> 00:19:49.680 normal fridges, so this is a durable, affordable 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.779 alternative. It tackles cooling and food preservation, 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:55.940 huge impact on health and reducing food waste. 00:19:56.140 --> 00:19:59.670 So these terra -cotta solutions, they have benefits 00:19:59.670 --> 00:20:03.230 beyond just cooling a room or keeping food fresh? 00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:06.710 Absolutely. Niyati Gupta from WRI India sees 00:20:06.710 --> 00:20:09.549 them as complementary to existing systems. They 00:20:09.549 --> 00:20:12.190 help reduce our reliance on the fossil fuel powered 00:20:12.190 --> 00:20:14.789 grid for cooling. Which is a massive energy hog. 00:20:15.009 --> 00:20:18.250 Huge. She calls terracotta a potential game changer 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:20.410 for both the energy sector and the construction 00:20:20.410 --> 00:20:23.069 sector. If buildings can stay cooler naturally, 00:20:23.170 --> 00:20:25.990 we need less energy intensive AC. That means 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:28.779 fewer emissions, less strain on the grid, lower 00:20:28.779 --> 00:20:31.779 costs, it's building a more sustainable and equitable 00:20:31.779 --> 00:20:34.119 future using lessons from the past. Okay, so 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:36.160 we've hit the health impacts, the hopeful ancient 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:39.279 solutions. Now let's turn to a pretty stark reality. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.319 The huge economic and social gap when it comes 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.299 to staying cool. Yeah, this is where you really 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:46.039 see the inequality play out. It's almost like 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:48.500 a tale of two continents sometimes. Okay, picture 00:20:48.500 --> 00:20:51.660 a really hot summer day. In the U .S. for many 00:20:51.660 --> 00:20:54.559 people, right? You wake up, your AC's been humming 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:58.559 all night, nice cool room. You drive or commute 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:00.980 in an air -conditioned vehicle to an air -conditioned 00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:03.480 office. Maybe you step outside for lunch, but 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:06.019 mostly you're shielded from the heat. It's just 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:09.140 expected. Integrated into life and work. Okay, 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:13.329 got it. Now the contrast. Same hot day, maybe 00:21:13.329 --> 00:21:15.390 an average European city. You might have slept 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:19.029 terribly, tossing and turning, sticky. Your commute 00:21:19.029 --> 00:21:21.349 might be a nightmare crowded train, maybe delayed 00:21:21.349 --> 00:21:23.690 because the heat is literally buckling the tracks 00:21:23.690 --> 00:21:26.210 or messing with signals. That happens. Oh yeah, 00:21:26.549 --> 00:21:29.150 infrastructure struggles. And if you work from 00:21:29.150 --> 00:21:32.690 home, maybe you just have a fan blowing hot air 00:21:32.690 --> 00:21:35.029 around. Productivity tanks, you feel miserable. 00:21:35.190 --> 00:21:37.529 That sounds rough. And the key difference is 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:41.140 just AC. Fundamentally, yeah. The prevalence 00:21:41.140 --> 00:21:43.180 and reliability of air conditioning. It's not 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:46.079 just about comfort. It's about whether society 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:48.519 can function smoothly when it gets extremely 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:52.640 hot. So where AC is common, the economic hit 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:55.920 from heat is lessened. Exactly. Businesses keep 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.500 running. People can concentrate. Health impacts 00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:02.019 are somewhat buffered. But where it's less common 00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:04.660 or the grid can't handle the demand, you see 00:22:04.660 --> 00:22:07.660 real economic costs, social disruption. Everything 00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:09.720 gets harder. And some experts are saying this 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:11.980 is becoming a serious economic threat, especially 00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:14.599 in Europe. Yeah, Taco Engelar, he's a climate 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:17.240 tech executive. He doesn't mince words. He says 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.019 heat is becoming an existential threat to some 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:22.299 European economies. Existential. That sounds 00:22:22.299 --> 00:22:24.720 extreme. But think about it. He points to the 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.920 strain on infrastructure, especially the power 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:29.420 grid. Many European grids just weren't built 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:31.539 for the massive peaks in demand when everyone 00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:34.400 turns on AC during a heat wave. So the overload, 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:36.859 blackouts. Precisely. Blackouts, brownouts. And 00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:39.319 what happens then? Businesses shut down. Supply 00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:42.480 chains get messed up. Transport stops. Health 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.619 emergencies get worse because people can't cool 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.380 down and hospitals might lose power. It becomes 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:50.759 this vicious cycle with real measurable economic 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.779 losses. It threatens stability. Wow. You don't 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:55.680 often think of heat waves causing that level 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:58.259 of economic disruption. But it's happening. And 00:22:58.259 --> 00:23:00.980 we see these connections globally, too. Remember 00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:03.660 that tragic story of the street sweeper in Barcelona 00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:06.400 who died from heatstroke? Yeah. Awful. That wasn't 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:09.359 just a personal tragedy. It sparked labor protests 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.839 across southern Europe. It really highlighted 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:15.019 the danger for outdoor workers, the social justice 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:17.160 angle of heat exposure. There's a human face 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:21.230 on it. And it fits the bigger pattern. July 2025, 00:23:21.910 --> 00:23:24.230 recorded as the third hottest ever globally. 00:23:24.730 --> 00:23:27.410 It's not just Europe. Cities in Southeast Asia 00:23:27.410 --> 00:23:30.250 are facing high risks from both floods and heat 00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:32.910 waves. It's a global challenge hitting urban 00:23:32.910 --> 00:23:35.309 areas hard. Which brings us back to something 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:38.869 we talk about a lot. Decarbonization isn't just 00:23:38.869 --> 00:23:41.430 about the environment, is it? Not at all anymore. 00:23:41.630 --> 00:23:44.230 It's core economic strategy. Engeler makes the 00:23:44.230 --> 00:23:46.630 point that for Europe, competitiveness increasingly 00:23:46.630 --> 00:23:49.089 depends on developing their own renewable power. 00:23:49.250 --> 00:23:51.849 For energy security. For energy security, absolutely, 00:23:52.009 --> 00:23:54.609 but also specifically to handle these climate 00:23:54.609 --> 00:23:56.859 challenges like heat. If your industries can't 00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:58.759 operate because it's too hot or the grid fails, 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:01.279 you lose your edge globally. So investing in 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.539 renewables and stronger grids is also about climate 00:24:03.539 --> 00:24:05.960 adaptation and economic resilience. Totally. 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.440 It means reliable local power to keep things 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:12.079 running, keep people cool, keep the economy productive, 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:14.720 even when it's scorching outside. It reduces 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:17.380 reliance on volatile fossil fuels, stabilizes 00:24:17.380 --> 00:24:20.759 costs. Climate action becomes economic necessity. 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:23.160 So the ability to cool down, whether it's high 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:26.339 tech AC or ancient terracotta, It's not a luxury 00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:28.579 anymore. Not at all. It's becoming fundamental, 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:30.880 a determinant of health, economic stability, 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.339 basic well -being, and the gap between those 00:24:34.339 --> 00:24:36.559 who have access and those who don't. That's a 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:38.940 major fault line opening up in our warming world. 00:24:39.180 --> 00:24:42.099 Hashtag, tag, tag outro. So that brings us to 00:24:42.099 --> 00:24:43.940 the end of this Meteorology Matters podcast. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:46.359 We've covered a lot today, really digging into 00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:48.920 the unseen cost of the warming world. We look 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:51.140 at how heat impacts our health in ways that go 00:24:51.140 --> 00:24:53.400 far beyond just the headlines about fatalities. 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:55.940 Yeah, looking at that broader spectrum of illness, 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:58.859 the morbidity and the real strain it puts on 00:24:58.859 --> 00:25:00.940 public health systems everywhere. And then we 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:03.880 explored those amazing ancient cooling methods 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:07.160 like terracotta, seeing how simple old ideas 00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:10.160 can offer. really powerful, sustainable solutions 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:13.279 for today. Right. That blend of past wisdom and 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.839 modern innovation. And finally, we touched on 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:19.579 that stark economic divide, the AC gap, and how 00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:22.220 access to cooling shapes everything from daily 00:25:22.220 --> 00:25:24.599 life to global competitiveness. It definitely 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:26.759 makes you think differently about summer, about 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:29.339 health, about how we build our cities and live 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:32.079 sustainably. We hope this look at heat changes 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:33.779 your perspective a bit. And if you want more 00:25:33.779 --> 00:25:36.059 insights on meteorology and climate. Definitely 00:25:36.059 --> 00:25:38.700 follow meteorologist Rob Jones. He's on Instagram 00:25:38.700 --> 00:25:41.960 as meteorologist. On TikTok as TV meteorologist. 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:44.220 And on YouTube, look for Rob Jones Hurricane. 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:46.160 That's also where you can find the Meteorology 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:48.819 Matters podcast playlist. So as we wrap up, here's 00:25:48.819 --> 00:25:51.420 a thought to leave you with. As our planet keeps 00:25:51.420 --> 00:25:54.349 warming. What other ingenious solutions, maybe 00:25:54.349 --> 00:25:56.390 ones hidden in plain sight from our past, will 00:25:56.390 --> 00:25:59.990 we need to embrace or invent? How do we ensure 00:25:59.990 --> 00:26:02.630 not just survival, but real well -being and comfort 00:26:02.630 --> 00:26:04.950 for everyone, no matter where they live or what 00:26:04.950 --> 00:26:07.309 they can afford? That's the big question, isn't 00:26:07.309 --> 00:26:10.210 it? Find equitable solutions for a hotter future, 00:26:10.450 --> 00:26:11.710 something to really chew on.