(AmericanProsperity.com) – Local authorities are quietly preparing for a new climate challenge that many areas are going to be experiencing in the coming months.
Authorities have placed Chief Heat Officers, or CHOs, in cities worldwide to prepare residents for extreme heat and an increasing temperature. The CHO for the U.N.’s human settlement program, Eleni Myrivili, said “They call it the silent killer.” Myrivili said that people overlook extreme heat because it doesn’t have the same drama as other natural disasters such as tornadoes or hurricanes.
Myrivili, expressed her concerns, saying “Heat, I believe it to the bottom of my heart, is going to be the number one public health challenge that we will be dealing with in the next decade. And we need to prepare for it now.” She continued, “We can, but we really need to make it a priority.”
According to known data, heat is the number one leading weather-related killer in the U.S. with almost two thousand deaths per year.
The CDC says that “extreme heat” is categorized as temperatures that are higher or more humid than normal. They have also said that adults with chronic conditions, older adults, and young people are most at risk when it comes to extreme heat, but even younger healthy people can still be affected.
The first CHO was appointed in Miami where rising temperatures and extreme heat are common. People who live in Miami are struggling to choose between air conditioning, which can make electric bills fifty percent higher, and putting food on the table. In this area, the temperatures are over ninety degrees at least six months out of the year.
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