Fun Times with Climate Change
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Have you noticed that it’s hot? Doesn’t matter where you are, at least in this country. It’s pretty toasty in a way that is only possible with human-caused climate change. The Earth just set its record heat for a given month for merely the 13th month in a row. And we as a society have done effectively nothing. So of course this will have spiraling impacts. This is just one of them.
The call came at 2 p.m. Sunday: A driver suffered a brain injury in a traffic accident and needed to be flown to a different hospital as soon as possible.
Lead helicopter pilot Douglas Evans noted the 116.6-degree temperature in Redding, Calif., where he would need to land. The tarmac was probably even hotter. In 27 years of operating medical helicopters around California, Evans had never had to cancel a flight because of excessive heat — until now.
Evans and other emergency responder pilotsare used to factoring California’swind, fog and fire smoke into their flight decisions. But extreme heat, like the intense wave blanketing the West right now, is affecting the way rescue helicopters can carry out their missions.
High temperatures, which are increasing due to human-caused climate change, are altering operations in broad swaths of the state. REACH Air Medical Services, which operates 30 helicopter bases across California, declined at least two rescue calls over the weekend because of excessive heat, said Vicky Spediacci, the company’s chief operating officer. “This is pretty rare. There can be pockets but this was more widespread,” she said.
The company sometimes reroutes in hot weather to land at an airport — where there are fewer obstacles — instead of on the scene. Landing in a confined area can require more engine power, which is harder in high temperatures, said Spediacci, who was a pilot for 40 years.
Yes, the number of overall deaths this will cause is less than most other impacts from climate change, but we can’t even know how each impact will spiral into something else. Going to be good times ahead!