With temperatures above 10 degrees expected in Sacramento next week, both the highest temperatures during the day and the lowest temperatures at night could be dangerous for vulnerable residents.
Triple-digit temperatures are expected to last for as many as four days in the region starting Monday next week, with overnight lows barely dipping below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
“My first thoughts are with our unhoused community,” said Ilanka Zlatar, president of the climate organization 350 Sacramento. “I am concerned about them and I am going to fill a cooler with ice and bottles of water to try to bring them some relief.”
Health experts say summer nights that don’t cool down limit the ability to cool off after scorching days and increase health risks. The city’s homeless population, the elderly and Sacramento residents without air conditioning are most at risk.
“Then I think about the people in Sacramento who don’t have air conditioning,” Zlatar added, “and then I think about wildfire season, because people really can’t escape the impacts of climate change.”
Scientists say extreme heat and increasing heat waves are the deadliest symptoms of climate change, as they exacerbate health problems. Reports have also shown that government agencies, including California, are undercounting heat-related deaths.
According to the Climate Shift Index, a national weather tool that compares forecasts with climate science, higher nighttime minimum temperatures are three times more likely this week due to climate change.
An analysis by nonprofit research and news organization Climate Central found that summer minimum nighttime temperatures in Sacramento have risen 2.5 degrees since 1970. Hot days in combination with hot nights can be especially dangerous.
That change is even more striking in Fresno, where the number of hot nights has increased sixfold in the past decade. Nationwide, the frequency of hot summer days combined with hot nights has increased in more than 80% of U.S. cities.
Warmer nights often disrupt sleep, which studies have linked to adverse physical and mental health effects on human health, particularly for pregnant women, people from poor communities and the elderly.
To keep households cool, public health experts recommend keeping blinds and shades closed during the day to maintain cooler temperatures at night. For households without air conditioning, set up a fan to blow on ice to circulate cool air.
Sacramento County has opened cooling centers, with more information available at 211sacramento.org. Locations include the North A Emergency Shelter, Outreach and Engagement Center, Sam and Bonnie Pannel Center, and the Citrus Heights Police Department.
