Earth observations of extreme heat events: leveraging current capabilities to enhance heat research and action

[摘要] In the boreal summer of 2021, as heat extremes triggered mass death in ecological systems, pushed engineered systems to the breaking point, and threatened health and well-being of people across the northern hemisphere, it was impossible to ignore the intensifying nature of summertime heat. This, coming in the same months as deadly flooding and historically intense fires in multiple countries, is both alarming and profoundly unsettling. As Amitav Ghosh wrote of climate extremes: ‘they are the mysterious work of our own hands returning to haunt us in unthinkable shapes and forms’ [1]. The summer of 2021 met this vivid description. It was also a preview of greater extremes to come and an indicator that even wealthy communities are poorly prepared to reduce harm from extreme heat under climate change.

[学科分类] 精神健康和精神病学

[关键词] Earth observation;extreme heat;climate change