National

Heatwaves an “Invisible Killer”

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The has been some record-high temperatures this summer, both on land and at sea. Climate Change Specialist, Marjahn Finlayson, weighs in.

Published

10 months ago

July 18, 2023

Marlena Leonard

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The world has seen some record-high temperatures this summer, both on land and at sea. Local climate change specialist, Marjahn Finlayson, weighs in.

We’ve all been feeling the heat for the past few weeks and Climate Change Specialist Marjahn Finlayson is stressing that the heat isn’t isolated.

One of her biggest concerns is the knock-on effects of marine heatwaves, like mass death of fish, and coral bleaching, the latter already taking place off the coast of Florida where the water surface level temperature was said to be 91 degrees Fahrenheit.

And it’s not just the Americas feeling the heat.

Senior Extreme Heat Advisor for the World Meteorological Organization John Nairn warned that the sustained heat both day and night with no time for the body to recover leads to increased cases of heart attacks and death.

A recent study calculated that 60,000 additional people died because of extreme heat in Europe last summer, Nairn shares.

And Finlayson says it can be hard sometimes to get younger people to understand how quickly things have intensified.

Our News has done a series of stories on beating the heat, you can find those on our socials for tips to stay cool.