The invisible effect of extreme heat: experts explain how soaring temperatures are isolating people

Severe storms, heatwaves and wildfires can bring a community’s social life to a standstill. Here’s why.

Studies show that the amount of time Americans spend interacting face-to-face with friends and family had already been declining even before the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced social interaction from 2020 onwards.

When temperatures soar, friends and neighbours share heat alerts, check on older people or other members of the community who may need help, and organise community cooling centres when formal services are overwhelmed. However, the effects of climate change may also be weakening the very social fabric that helps communities thrive.

As extreme weather events become more frequent and disruptive, they can strain relationships, interrupt daily routines and communication, and damage the places where people gather, along with the foundations of long-standing community traditions.

Fiona Doherty, Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, who studies overlapping social and environmental crises, including social isolation and extreme weather events, has found that one of the most overlooked impacts of climate change may be its ability to worsen the ongoing epidemic of loneliness.

Recent research carried out by Doherty’s team in the rural Appalachian region revealed several ways in which extreme weather events are making social activities even more difficult.

Extreme weather keeps people apart

When outdoor temperatures become dangerously high, people retreat indoors, staying in air-conditioned spaces or close to electric fans. This can come at a social cost.

Some weather events can prevent people from leaving their homes.

Severe storms and flooding can make travel unsafe or impossible, preventing people

Original Record.

This archived record authored by ‘Helena Mottram’ at ‘METEORED (Your Weather)’ was recovered from data set:

https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/science/the-invisible-effect-of-extreme-heat-experts-explain-how-soaring-temperatures-are-isolating-people.html