Extreme heatwaves are sweeping Europe and the United States with some people being treated for third degree burns.
In Phoenix, Arizona, mobile clinics are treating homeless people suffering from third-degree burns and severe dehydration.
The city has already endured 15 days in a row of temperatures exceeding 43.3 degrees Celsius.
In the desert city of Palm Springs, homeless people have been left to deal with the extreme heat themselves, with only 20 beds available in the sole shelter.
Roman Ruiz, the city’s homeless services coordinator, told CBS News homeless residents struggle in normal heat to find enough shade.
“I don’t know how anyone can do it really,” he said.
“I feel so bad, and yet there’s not much I can do.”
Isn’t a 3rd degree burn one that’s down through all the layers of skin? 43c is only 109F. While hot, it’s hardly uncommon. Especially in Arizona.
The accounts I’ve seen have involved doing things like walking barefoot on hot surfaces. Solid objects in the sun can be a lot hotter than the air temperature, and be much more effective at rapidly transferring heat into your body.
If you passout from exhaustion and your skin is touching metal… Or maybe prolonged sunburn? I dunno… Just brainstorming.
Also the UV index can vary significantly, regardless air temps. Perhaps that also caused some severe burns.
When ladbible starts to report on climate
This seems to be the common evolution. Buzzfeed has the best investigative journalism for a while
