7 Ways To Keep Cool During the Global Heatwave with No End In Sight

Don’t call it a heatwave.

No seriously, don’t.

A heatwave by definition is a “period of extreme heat that lasts two or more days.”

Since July, Seattle for example has experienced six consecutive days of highs above 95 degrees, a record for the normally cool and rainy city according to the New York Times.

This heat wave was not as long as the one last summer that caused more than 600 deaths. But it broke records for daily highs, warmest overnight lows and consecutive days of excessive heat in several cities. Portland, Salem and Eugene, Ore., all experienced seven consecutive days of highs above 95 degrees, a record in all three cities, according to the Weather Service.

We are living through, ahem, unprecedented times. [Really wish that word hasn’t been used so much this year]

We are living through the long predicted topsy turvy, dynamic, mercurial, and dangerous effects of climate change due to years of human industrialization polluting the environment.

But blistering temperatures aren’t just uncomfortable.

Time:

“They can quickly escalate to become life-threatening: According to data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers, more than 700 people nationwide died from heat-related causes annually from 2004 to 2018. Some research suggests that the death toll will rise in the coming years as climate change makes extreme heat more common.”

Temperatures at this level for this duration are dangerous for everyone at any age. Incidences of everything from heatstroke to to mental health with high temperatures linked to higher suicide rates.

Heat may also contribute to more emergency department visits for mental-health crises.

A study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022, researchers who evaluated 3.5 million emergency department visits found that higher warm-season temperatures increased the risk of ER visits for any mental-health condition, including substance use disorder, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia.

Photo above: Brendan can’t with this heat.

With that in mind we’ve been trying to keep cool and wanna share seven ways we do with you.

1. Maintain physical distancing. It not only protects you from COVID-19 and Monkeypox, but it also prevents compounding body heat by the gaseous bag of bones closest to you.
2. Take cool showers often.
3. Allow your body to air dry after that shower. It forces you to slow down a little bit and also provides the opportunity to cool off.
4. Get black out curtains.Sunlight increases the temperature of your domicile. Black out curtains help keep it cool.
5. Water. Drink water. Lots of it.
6. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits as much as possible. They’re high in water content and provide tons of fiber to keep things moving. You have perhaps heard of the watermelon popular this time of year?

A Day in Summer 🍉✨ #watermelon from #grandpa 😘 #夏の日 #すいか #おじいちゃんから pic.twitter.com/fB1eUnAbRD

— shiba and koji (@kojiandshiba) July 24, 2022

Tweet above: three generations enjoy watermelon on a hot summer day.

7. An air conditioner. Invest in one. Even if it’s just for your bedroom. You’ll sleep better and find your general mood will improve when it’s 90 degrees at 7PM, the traditionally coolest time of day in the summer.

To whom it may concern. See how I am sweating in the kitchen? This is why air conditioning is important in my next house. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/V70ZcgK3oq

— Lolade Nwanze (@LoladeSowoolu) April 25, 2019

Tweet above: Poor Lolade doesn’t have an air conditioner. 

Keep it breezy nerds.

GayNrd’s health editor Jose Rivera is a registered nurse and lives in Florida by his own volition.