Burning Up

Summertime heat waves are thought to kill hundreds of Americans every year, by far the most common victims being the elderly, the young, and the working or homeless poor with inadequate protection from the elements. Among these groups the most vulnerable to dehydration and overheating are those with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and emphysema, and who are taking medications for these diseases. A number of medications that are required to treat and manage these and other illnesses have the undesirable side effect of impairing the body’s heat and cooling regulatory mechanisms.

The human body cools by the evaporation of sweat. This process is impaired by moist humid air, which makes the weather feel far hotter than reported temperatures.
~ from US Heat Wave Preys on Poor by Gary Joad ~

It ain't just the heat either! Severe weather events, in all their various forms, almost always impact the poor more than anyone else. When we gaze at the death tolls of tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, floods and blizzards -- the majority of fatalities come from the lower classes. Same is true for those who are injured and displaced.

With society rushing full speed toward an ecological reckoning and governments around the world embracing austerity spending, we are writing a recipe that spells great peril for the bottom 90 percent. As we continue to pollute like there is no tomorrow, we are guaranteeing more severe climatic events that will insure there IS no tomorrow for many among the poor.

It is beyond galling to hear our leaders in Washington cavalierly throwing around figures of proposed cuts in the trillions. Once instituted, those cuts will put more people in harm's way. Death tolls will be certain to climb and this will place an even greater stress on our fragile national psyche.