On a sidewalk in Arizona's capital Phoenix, where a record-setting heat wave has prompted warnings for people to limit their time outside, Dana Page struggles to stay hydrated in her tarpaulin shelter.
The 49-year-old, surrounded by bottles of water, knows full well the dangers heat poses to the homeless population.
Days earlier, she watched emergency responders perform CPR on a fellow resident of "The Zone," an encampment where hundreds live in tents and makeshift shelters, near downtown.
"He died just inches away from water," she told AFP.
Phoenix, like much of the US southwest, is surrounded by desert, and its 1.6 million residents are used to brutal summer temperatures.
But this year's heat wave is unprecedented in its length: it has already helped the city break its previous record of 18 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), with similar highs forecast into next week.
Page, a native of Phoenix, said she has had heatstroke three times in the past five years, describing it as a "secret killer" that sneaks up if not monitoring one's water intake.
– Jump in heat-related deaths –
The absence of typical monsoon rains has also compounded the problem: no respite from searing heat during the day allows temperatures to remain dangerously elevated overnight.
"If this continues, we will see more heat-related deaths," said Amy Schwabenlender, head of the Human Services Campus, a large facility near "The Zone" where 16 associations cooperate to provide social services, medical treatment and a shelter for those in need.
"It is a life-and-death situation," she warned.
With its population growth among the highest in the United States, coupled with a lack of affordable housing, Arizona has seen the number of homeless people go up 23 percent in recent years.
And as global warming fuels more frequent extreme weather events, homeless people are increasingly vulnerable to the elements.
Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, recorded a 25 percent increase last year in heat-related deaths, with 425 fatalities — many among the homeless population.
The National Weather Service warns that extreme heat is the top weather-related killer, and has recommended people in Phoenix "stay indoors and seek air-conditioned buildings" during the heat wave.
– 'Enough resources to help everybody' –
To deal with the emergency, the Human Services Campus is running at full speed. Its associations send out early morning patrols to distribute 2,000 bottles of water every day, as well as sunblock and hats.
Like some sixty other sites around the city, the facility also serves as a cooling center, where homeless people can find shade, misters and a vast air-conditioned cafeteria with film showings to pass the time.
Schwabenlender warns that scorching hot surfaces outside also pose a significant danger, especially for those with worn shoes or bare feet, as well as people who fall or lie on the ground.
"I saw a man who laid on something and all the side of his neck was burned," she said.
Asphalt in the summer sun can climb to temperatures above 160F (71C).
A few days ago, former house painter Jose Itafranco collapsed on the sidewalk after consuming methamphetamine, but the 30-year-old said he was lucky to have his wife Alvira nearby to prop his body up.
"When you do meth… it really just makes you think that you're tougher than you are… like you're untouchable," Itafranco told AFP.
"But what happens, really, is you get dehydrated."
Schwabenlender argues the hundreds of heat-related deaths in Maricopa County could have been avoided with a more coordinated response, and calls for federal emergency action commensurate with other natural disasters.
The White House, for its part, outlined last week various federal initiatives related to "extreme heat fueled by the climate crisis," including a forthcoming meeting with local officials to discuss preparedness, as well as the drafting of a "National Heat Strategy."
"We have enough resources to help everybody, we just have to figure out how to put them all together," Schwabenlender said.
Millions hit by extreme heat on three continents
Athens (AFP) July 19, 2023 –
Millions suffered through intense heat Wednesday as fires raged, health worries mounted and the world appeared headed for its hottest month of July on record.
As temperature records tumbled on three continents, experts pointed the finger at climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels, saying global warming had a key role in destructive weather.
Governments and the World Health Organization issued warnings as vulnerable parts of the population suffered.
In Greece, two forest fires, fanned by strong winds, were raging to the west of Athens, and another on the tourist island of Rhodes where residents had to decide whether to flee.
"I am not leaving. I started building this house when I was 27 years old by myself," said Dimitris Michaelous, a resident in the fire-threatened town of Pournari.
Greece's firefighters said Romania, Slovakia and Poland would send some 230 firefighters to help it tackle the blazes.
Polish fire services said 149 firefighters were on their way to Greece — 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) away — aboard 49 vehicles.
France recorded temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the country's south, including on the Mediterranean holiday island Corsica.
Beijing broke a 23-year-old record with 27 consecutive days of temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.
– 'My skin is burning' –
"At noon, it feels like the sun is roasting my legs, it feels like my skin is burning," said Qiu Yichong, a 22-year-old student.
Han Weili, a delivery driver, told AFP: "Sometimes when it is very hot, I feel a little confused or dizzy."
The Beijing government urged the elderly to stay indoors and children to shorten outdoor playtime to reduce exposure to the heat and ground-level ozone pollution.
People were cranking up air conditioning, leading to a surge in energy demand.
The World Health Organization said the extreme heat was straining healthcare systems, hitting older people, infants and children.
The WHO said it was particularly concerned about people with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and asthma.
In the Canary Islands, some 400 firefighters battled a blaze that has ravaged 3,500 hectares of forest and forced 4,000 residents to evacuate, with authorities warning people to wear face masks outside due to poor air quality.
Temperatures were also ferocious in other parts of Spain, with three regions on red alert.
Coastal waters around Spain have hit a record high temperature for this time of the year, the national weather office said Wednesday.
The Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily have been forecast to possibly surpass a continent-wide record of 48.8C recorded in Sicily in August 2021.
At Lanusei, near Sardinia's eastern coast, a children's summer camp was restricting beach visits to the early morning and banning sports, teacher Morgana Cucca told AFP.
– 'Better at the beach' –
Many throughout Italy sought escape by the sea, including outside Rome, where the heat hit 40C.
"You can at least get a little wind from the sea," said Virginia Cesario, 30, at the Focene beach near the capital.
"This has become the new normal," said Fabrizio Carozza, a 26-year-old office employee from Belgium.
In North America, meanwhile, tens of millions of people woke up to another scorcher Wednesday, having experienced dangerous heat the previous day.
– 'Running out of ways' –
In the town of San Angelo, Texas, where temperatures were expected to reach 108F (42C), the National Weather Service said it was "running out of ways to say that it's gonna be hot out there today."
"We implore you to continue to practice heat safety," the agency said on Twitter.
And in Arizona, the mercury at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport again reached 110F on Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 18 consecutive days at or above that temperature, set in 1974.
Even Iraq, used to average July temperatures of around 32C, found it hard to cope with the heat surge, prompting the mayor of Basrah in the south to give civil servants a day off Thursday when 50C or more is forecast.
The world is on track for its hottest July since measurements began, the European Union's climate observatory told AFP Wednesday.
"The first 15 days of July have been the warmest 15 days on record," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service(C3S).
The heat waves across Europe and the globe are "not one single phenomenon but several acting at the same time", said Robert Vautard, director of France's Pierre-Simon Laplace climate institute.
"But they are all strengthened by one factor: climate change."
