Heat ‘Wave’ Is Far More Than That, Duke Experts Say

Experts on health and heat mitigation brief media on Thursday

DURHAM, N.C. -- It’s not a heat wave.

The blistering heat and enveloping humidity that has wrapped its slimy tentacles around the Southeast and beyond this summer isn’t a brief bit of sweaty misery to be tolerated. It’s a full heat season now—long and dangerous and in need of year-round attention, three Duke scholars argued Thursday during a virtual briefing for media.

On a day when the temperature in central North Carolina would creep toward the upper 90s—and as the Biden administration unveiled new steps to help find some relief—the Duke experts spoke to reporters about the dangers of this heat, how it can affect young athletes and what people can do to protect themselves from it. (Watch the briefing on YouTube.)

The briefing featured Ashley Ward, director of Duke’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub; Dr. J.J. Hoff, an emergency medicine specialist with Duke Health; and Jordan Clark, a postdoctoral associate at the Nicholas Institute.

Excerpts from the briefing are available at Duke Today.

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Information discussed by Nicholas Institute experts during the briefing was published by:

• NPR
• The News & Observer
• The Canadian Press
• WRAL
• High School OT
• NC Newsline
• Florida Phoenix
• New Hampshire Bulletin