The city’s average temperature of 74.5 degrees Fahrenheit was 2.2 degrees above normal, according to Climate Central, a nonprofit that analyzes climate science.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä isn’t and won’t be alone as extreme weather becomes more common amid climate change.
The federal government responded Tuesday by rolling out new actions to protect communities and workers from extreme weather as wildfires blaze throughout the West Coast and after a heat wave gripped much of the country last month.
The White House announced the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing a rule that would establish what it said would be the nation’s first-ever federal safety standard addressing excessive heat in the workplace.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a new report highlighting the extensive impacts of climate change on the nation’s people and environment, noting that the average length of the heat wave season is 46 days longer today than it was in the 1960s.
The White House indicated the Federal Emergency Management Agency would announce nearly $1 billion in awards for 656 projects across the country to help communities protect against disasters and natural hazards, including extreme heat, storms and flooding.
The OSHA-proposed rule released Tuesday is expected to cover 36 million workers in indoor and outdoor work settings. The agency is proposing to exclude from the rule:
Short-duration employee exposures to heat
Emergency response activities
Work at indoor sites kept below 80 degrees Fahrenheit
Telework
Indoor sedentary work activities
The proposed standard would require employers to:
Develop and implement a work site heat injury and illness prevention plan (HIIPP) with site-specific information to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace
Identify heat hazards in both outdoor and indoor work sites
Implement control measures at or above a heat index of 80 degrees or a wet-bulb globe temperature equal to a federally recommended exposure limit that include providing employees:
s Acclimatization protocols for new and returning unacclimatized employees
s Paid rest breaks if needed to prevent overheating
s Regular and effective two-way communication
Rest breaks of 15 minutes at least every two hours would be mandated at a heat index of 90 degrees or wet-bulb globe temperature equal to the federally recommended exposure limit.
Wet-bulb globe temperature is a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight, which takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud coverage, according to the National Weather Service.
FEMA-selected entities in line for funding through the agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Grant Program that supports states and local communities investing in disaster and natural hazard resilience were not immediately available Tuesday.
The EPA’s report released Tuesday found that between 1979 and 2022, the rate of deaths directly resulting from exposure to heat (the underlying cause of death) hovered between 0.5 and 2 per million people.
More than 14,000 Americans have died from heat-related causes since 1979, according to the report.
