By Pam McVety
This septuagenarian has had it with the extreme hot weather and the lack of action to keep it from getting hotter.
It looks like the Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, has to boil before President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress, as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, act. Thank goodness for local governments like the city of Tallahassee taking action to address the climate crisis, but they can’t do it alone.
It is hot. It is too hot. Tens of millions of Americans in major cities are dealing with life-threatening heat. As I write this, the temperature in Tallahassee is 94 degrees and it feels like 103 degrees. The upcoming forecast suggests that temperatures will continue to be hot.
I grew up in Florida in the 1950s and ’60s without air conditioning and most nights were comfortable for sleeping. This is no longer possible. When it was too hot during the day, we swam in the Gulf to cool off. This is no longer possible. The Gulf summer water temperatures are unpleasantly warm and increasingly too hot.
As kids we played outdoors all day. This is no longer possible. Now on a hot day, you can’t even walk your dog on the pavement for fear of burning its paws.
Older folks don’t do well in the heat. We are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses because our bodies don’t thermoregulate well, and any underlying health conditions, which of course we have as we age, can affect our ability to cope with the heat.
A walk to the mailbox at noon in the summer can make you feel ill. Yard work in the summer is out of the question, except maybe in the dark, as are most outdoor recreational activities.
Between 2010 and 2020, there were 215 deaths attributed to heat exposure in Florida. We also had the most heat-related illnesses in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022, with over 26,000 emergency room visits and 5,000 hospitalizations, according to Governing.
The only thing that does well in the heat is a hurricane.
It is a good guess that some tourists avoid Florida outdoor attractions during the summer months because of the heat. Thirty-seven years ago when we took our daughter to “the most magical place on earth,” it was uncomfortable and hot while waiting in long lines. Now, no amount of money could entice me to take our grandkids there during much of the year due to the heat.
The Florida Legislature must think that the heat isn’t a problem for outdoor workers because it passed a law that prohibits local governments from enacting measures such as water breaks, shade and heat safety training to protect outdoor workers, and there is no state law.
Come on, folks, climate change is real and causes the heat. The heat is deadly serious and getting worse year by year. Even frogs, contrary to the “frog in the boiling water” fable, jump out of the water when uncomfortable, long before it boils.
Our situation isn’t going to get better without dramatically and quickly cutting our carbon emissions, and this requires leadership. It requires you to demand immediate action from our elected officials.
Don’t think that someone else is going to fix this or that the heat problem will diminish on its own. Our current leaders are not only not addressing this problem, but they are also making it worse by promoting the use of fossil fuels and knee-capping renewable energy actions.
And just for the record, by the time the Gulf boils, it will be too late.
Pam McVety is a retired environmental scientist and climate justice advocate. This opinion piece was originally published by the Tallahassee Democrat, which is a media partner of The Invading Sea. Banner photo: The sun sets over dunes in Florida (Charles Patrick Ewing, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons).
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