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AS EXTREME HEAT CONTINUES IN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY… MANY LATINO COMMUNITIES ARE ON THE FRONT LINES.
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DOCTOR MICHAEL MENDEZ… AN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE… SAYS LATINO COMMUNITIES ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED BY EXTREME HEAT.
HE SAYS MANY LATINO WORKERS SPEND HOURS OUTDOORS… LIKE ON FARMS OR CONSTRUCTION SITES… WITH LITTLE SHADE OR REST.
AND THOSE RISKS DON’T ALWAYS END WHEN THE WORKDAY DOES.
DOCTOR MENDEZ SAYS MANY WORKERS RETURN HOME TO NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE SEEN YEARS OF DISINVESEMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE… SHADE… AND OTHER ENVIORNMENTAL AMENITITES.
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Duration: :37
Super: Dr. Michael Méndez – Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine
“So think about a worker that’s working anywhere between eight to 10 or more hours in the hot sun. That toll it’s having on their body, they come home and ideally that’s the time for rest, where they can rest their mind and, most importantly, their body. But they come into a hot house, essentially like an oven, and physiologically, their body doesn’t have time to heal. So days, weeks, months and even years of that can have a long-term health impact on many Latino low-income workers, particularly from immigrant backgrounds.”
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EXTREME HEAT RISKS ARE EVEN HIGHER FOR KIDS.
AND DOCTOR MENDEZ SAYS MANY SCHOOLS AREN’T PREPARED TO KEEP STUDENTS COOL.
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(Méndez)
Duration: :40
“Heat waves can impact not only students’ physical health but their mental health and their immediate health, which can have impacts on their learning. So if the heat wave is happening and the school doesn’t have air conditioning, and this happens in a lot of low-income areas that have these environmental burdens as well, and no trees and green areas that help cool down the neighborhood, and most importantly the school, students can’t concentrate. They develop headaches, nosebleeds, have to go to the nurse’s office or have to go home. Some even can faint. So that can have a strong negative impact on their learning outcomes, let alone on their health.”
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DOCTOR MENDEZ SAYS GOVERNMENTS SHOULD USE EXISTING DATA TO IDENTIFY THE MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES… THEN PRIORITIZE RESOURCES THERE TO HELP THEM BETTER WITHSTAND EXTREME WEATHER AND CLIMATE HAZARDS.
