friends, get your AC checked, get some backup batteries (and solar) if you can, or figure out where your cooling centers are and make a plan for extreme heat...and to look out for each other

[susankayequinn@wandering.shop]

friends, get your AC checked, get some backup batteries (and solar) if you can, or figure out where your cooling centers are and make a plan for extreme heat...and to look out for each other

(also: get your masks and filters ready for the wildfires this will bring + get some spare jugs of water)
#climatechange

[climatejenny@biodiversity.social]

@susankayequinn Yikes. Here it comes. My one suggestion, which may or may not be useful to some, is to consider those inexpensive little swamp coolers. They look like toys, but they are very efficient at generating moderately cooler air to blow directly at a person, and they use very little energy while doing so. It won't solve ALL your problems, but it may keep you in a safe temperature range if you end up needing to rely on batteries for power.

Someone probably has a DIY version to link?

[climatejenny@biodiversity.social]

@susankayequinn One big caveat! Needs evaporation to work! If your humidity is too high it can't make cool air.

[3am@tech.lgbt]

@susankayequinn

tips from someone in texas who has lived through many a heat wave:

1. ️ stay in the shade whenever possible if you have to go outside; wear hats, use umbrellas/parasols, use sunscreen and aloe vera, etc

2. STAY HYDRATED WITH REGULAR WATER, anything with caffeine, alcohol or too much sugar is a no-go unless you literally have nothing else

3. heat stroke is no joke, if you start to feel dizziness or nausea and youre not getting better, get to a hospital/emergency room

4. ️get a generator if youre able to, in case of an outage, but if thats not possible, get some battery powered fans, batteries, coolers, bags of ice, and try to work with that

[susankayequinn@wandering.shop]

@ClimateJenny right, swamp coolers are only useful in specific situations -- and one climate adaptation we need is for people to be better educated about the way to stay safe in the climate risks in their specific area.

but this thing is gonna hit a vast part of the country

the biggest risk that I see is people just not taking it seriously...and not having a plan for when their particular flavor of climate disaster hits

[susankayequinn@wandering.shop]

@3am my biggest concern for folks (esp places like TX) is this cultural norm of "this is nothing, we've seen heat like this before" and they just don't take it seriously... because even if you've got your "normal" strategies for dealing with heat, what's coming is, by definition, not normal and those strategies might not be enough (but that's a great list!)

[3am@tech.lgbt]

@susankayequinn

nothing will ever be enough, especially because i think its going to get worse before it gets better

i think its one of those situations where people will not care until something drastic happens, like mass casualties from heat stroke or the power grid going out for significant periods of time, leading to severe injuries or sickness

or more likely, corporations will start to lose money from the ever increasing heat waves, and then theyll pressure politicians to do something (something short sighted and stupid that wont actually help regular people)

[susankayequinn@wandering.shop]

@3am I thought the polar vortex killing a bunch of people in TX when the power went out would make a difference & nope. There's just such corruption in the TX government (esp as relates to energy, both the FF industry and the regulation of the grid). But I'm sure you know all this! It's the same with FL... there are so many systemic issues, it's going to take a huge cultural shift (and throwing a bunch of people out of power) for gov to protect people.

In the meantime, I hope people prepare.

[nmba@mstdn.ca]

@susankayequinn
The garden centre hand pump water sprayers are fantastic for mist cooling (as long as you have water).