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    Dangerous Heat Returns to Central and Eastern U.S. This Week

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    High heat and humidity could make it feel like 115 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country this week, forecasters warned.Forecasters warned that “dangerous heat and humidity” will spread across the central and eastern United States this week, threatening to break records for high temperatures and ending a spell of fall-like weather.The heat wave will bring “unseasonably hot” temperatures to the Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center.The extreme heat and humidity could make it feel like 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country.“In some places in the Midwest, it could be the hottest temperatures they’ve seen all summer,” Mr. Roth said. “Not only is it late, it’s the hottest, too. So that’s a little unusual.” More

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      Heat Will Intensify Across the U.S. This Week

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      Summer heat will once again engulf much of the country, bringing above-average temperatures, setting daily records and increasing wildfire risk.Heat, on average, is the deadliest weather disaster in the U.S., causing typically over 100 deaths each year — more than hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding. Because of climate change, extreme heat is likely to worsen over time. Humidity can exacerbate the issue, preventing heat from properly escaping our bodies. Judson Jones, a meteorologist and reporter for The New York Times covering extreme weather, explains the dangers and how to find relief.A dangerous midsummer heat wave is expected to overtake much of the United States this week, with a swampy heat index reaching over 100 degrees in the East and drier, blistering triple-digit high temperatures in the West. More

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      After Hajj Deaths, Egypt Suspends 16 Companies

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      The action against 16 tour companies came as governments look into whether many travelers were not properly registered to make the journey into the desert.After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching desert heat during the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government announced on Saturday that it had suspended the licenses of 16 tour companies that had facilitated travel for some pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.At least 450 people have died during this year’s pilgrimage, in which travelers endured maximum temperatures that ranged from 108 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (42 to 49 degrees Celsius). But the actual number of fatalities is expected to climb as governments get more accurate tallies of the deaths. (Egypt, for one, has officially acknowledged only 31 deaths.)In announcing the suspension of the 16 travel companies, the Egyptian government said the businesses failed to offer the pilgrims important services like medical care. It said the companies did not provide the pilgrims with “appropriate accommodation,” which caused them to suffer from “exhaustion due to the high temperatures.”Reuters reported that some travel agencies may not have officially registered for the pilgrimage, to get around the high costs of package tours. And, Reuters said, companies were being blamed for letting pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia on personal visas, rather than hajj visas, which provide access to medical care and the holy sites.Mahmoud Qassem, a member of Egypt’s Parliament, said the travel companies “left the pilgrims stranded and turned off their mobile phones” so they could not hear the travelers’ calls for help.There were also complaints that pilgrims were not given access to enough cooling stations or water amid the intense heat.The number of unregistered visitors — in addition to the intense desert heat — could have left Saudi Arabia unprepared for dealing with such a large influx of people.Tunisia’s government has said that the death toll of pilgrims from that country was expected to rise from the 49 reported on Friday, as the number of people traveling on tourist visas became more clear.The hajj has been the site of several tragedies, including a stampede in 2015 that killed more than 2,200 people. In recent years, with rising temperatures, many pilgrims have also succumbed to heat stress.The Saudi government has said that during this year’s hajj, more than 1.8 million Muslims traveled to Mecca, 1.6 million of them from outside Saudi Arabia.Hager Al-Hakeem contributed reporting from Luxor, Egypt. More

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      EMTs Get a New Way to Treat Heat Victims: Body-Sized Ice Cocoons

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      In overheated Phoenix, firefighters are carrying giant plastic, ice-filled bags to quickly cool people, a technique pioneered in the military and at sporting events.As America comes to grips with hotter summer temperatures that already are seizing the nation’s Southwest, emergency medical responders in some areas are carrying new gear to treat heat victims: giant plastic bags to immerse people in ice water.The tactic involves placing patients suffering from heat-related illnesses in zippered bags that engulf the body, then packing them with ice cubes and water, until they cool to safe levels.It’s a technique that has been used for years to cool overheated soldiers or athletes facing heat stroke. Now the bags are being routinely deployed in some emergency rooms and on ambulance calls.In Phoenix, where record-breaking temperatures last year killed 645 people, fire trucks and ambulances have been equipped with specially designed “immersion bags,” said Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller. Emergency responders fill the bags with water and ice at fire stations before heading out on heat-related calls, he said.“Sometimes, when they get to the hospital, the ice is completely melted, the patient is so hot,” Mr. Keller said.Patients typically stay inside 15 to 20 minutes or so, until their body temperature is reduced to about 101 degrees Fahrenheit. A pilot program using the therapy in Phoenix last summer proved successful enough that fire officials decided to deploy it across the entire department.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Biden Admin Struggles to Address Sharp Rise in Deaths From Extreme Heat

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      For more than two years, a group of health experts, economists and lawyers in the U.S. government has worked to address a growing public health crisis: people dying on the job from extreme heat.In the coming months, this team of roughly 30 people at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to propose a new rule that would require employers to protect an estimated 50 million people exposed to high temperatures while they work. They include farm laborers and construction workers, but also people who sort packages in warehouses, clean airplane cabins and cook in commercial kitchens.The measure would be the first major federal government regulation to protect Americans from heat on the job. And it is expected to meet stiff resistance from some business and industry groups, which oppose regulations that would, in some cases, require more breaks and access to water, shade and air-conditioning.But even if the rule takes effect, experts say, the government’s emergency response system is poorly suited to meet the urgency of the moment.Last year was the hottest in recorded history, and researchers are expecting another record-breaking summer, with temperatures already rising sharply across the Sun Belt. The heat index in Miami reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit last weekend, shattering daily records by 11 degrees.The surge in deaths from heat is now the greatest threat to human health posed by climate change, said Dr. John M. Balbus, the deputy assistant secretary for climate change and health equity in the Health and Human Services Department.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More