As a grueling heatwave baked the US south-west this week, there were reports of at least three students being taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries. The injuries highlight the effects of extreme heat on health as the country struggles to grapple with increasingly severe weather amid the climate crisis.
Cal Fire and the fire department in Riverside, east of Los Angeles, reported responding on Tuesday afternoon to a junior high school and high school cross-country meet in the city where they evaluated five juvenile patients for “general weakness”. Three were transported to a hospital for further evaluation, the agency said.
The area saw temperatures as high as 102F (38.8C) on Tuesday. California, and the US south-west, is in the midst of a scorching heatwave that is expected to bring record fall temperatures that officials have said poses “a significant threat to property or life”. On Tuesday, San Francisco recorded its hottest day this year while Phoenix marked its hottest 1 October on record.
Schools across the state are feeling the impacts of extreme weather. As much as 20% of California’s public schools, serving students from kindergarten to 12th grade, have no air conditioning or heating systems, CalMatters reported this week. That figure includes Long Beach, where most or all buildings at area public schools don’t have air conditioning, the outlet said. The city experienced a high of 109F last month.
“We have protections for farm workers and other industries in the case of extreme weather, now climate change is forcing us to also extend similar protections to students at school,” said Dr Akilah Weber, a state assemblymember, in a statement this year announcing a bill to protect students from extreme weather.
Extreme heat in particular takes a toll on learning – researchers have found that students learn less in school years with more hot days.
In Riverside, 1,200 students from 43 schools participated in a cross-country event organized by Woodcrest Christian school that saw students run as much as three miles, the Southern California News Group reported. Eric Reynolds, the school’s head cross-country coach, told the outlet that some students did not hydrate enough before the meet.
Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, recently signed into law a bill requiring the state education department to create guidelines to protect students from extreme weather. The bill is named for Yahushua Robinson, who died at age 12 last year after he collapsed while running in his physical education class on a day when temperatures reached 107F.
Last month, however, Newsom vetoed the Climate Resilient Schools Act, which would have created a “roadmap” for schools to access federal funding to upgrade facilities.
