Heat advisories now stretch from northern Florida to southern New Mexico, and excessive-heat warnings have been issued for much of Texas and parts of New Mexico and Arizona and along the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. New Orleans is included in the zone of greatest heat risk, with actual air temperatures around 100 degrees and humidity that will push heat indexes to 115 degrees.
Excessive-heat watches have been posted for the lower Mississippi Valley and include Memphis and Nashville; Huntsville and Birmingham; Jackson, Mississippi; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Poplar Bluff, Missouri
“Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses,” cautioned the National Weather Service, “particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities.”
The heat will relent somewhat into early next week for portions of the Southeast and Mid-South, but there is no immediate end in sight for Texas, where blistering and brutal conditions look to continue as a heat doe lingers over Texas.
And this is only the latest U.S. manifestation of a global problem.
Across Asia, a June heat wave has set new temperature records from Singapore to Vietnam. India saw its hottest February since 1901. India has seen maximum temperatures reach above 45C for at least eight consecutive years through 2023, weather department data shows.
For consumers who can afford the utility bill–and whose utility doesn’t suffer a blackout because of the demand for electricity, the heat wave(s) is just a matter of cranking up the air conditioner and staying home. For poor people without air conditioning and who can’t afford to stay home from work even if they labor outdoors in the hot sun, the heat wave(s) frequently lead to death.
In India, for example, where the government officially reports just a handful of heat-related deaths, but, the Washington Post reports, estimates from local nonprofit groups and medical officials not authorized to talk to the media quickly run into the hundreds. The “counting problem” is made worse because only about 20% of deaths in India get a medical review and because heat can contribute to death from other conditions.
The financial markets responded to the expanding heat wave in the United States today by sending shares of Generac (GNRC), a stock I added to my Volatility Portfolio (on my subscription JubakAm.com site) on June 23, up 8.79% today. The company makes backup electric generators for home and residential use. Shares of Cheniere Energy (LNG), an exporter of liquified natural gas, closed up 1.34%. (Cheniere Energy is also a member of my Volatility Portfolio on JubakAM.com.) Natural gas futures from July delivery actually slipped 0.75% today.
