At the end of June, 2019, Europe is abuzz about the heat. Paris temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Wow! It is just like summer. Almost immediately, newspapers carried the stories of several temperature-related deaths. “Global warming is upon us!” some scream—Maybe.
I’m thinking of Chicago, summer of 1995: More than 700 heat-related deaths that year topped the suffering caused by the city’s heat waves in the 1930s, mid-1950s and 1970s, and in 1988. That 1995 temperature event produced a heat-index (the “feels like” temperature) in the 140s F just north of the city. The same event took Pittsburgh, PA, to 100 and Danbury, CT, to 106, and also generated high heat indexes in those areas.
Have you noticed your own and others’ responses to weather extremes? Generally, they’re mid-latitude, temperate zone people’s responses. Someone in Saudi Arabia, Mali, or Berkina Faso would probably say, “Welcome to the club of high temperatures; you’ll get used to them.” Of course, that’s a simplification. We do have physical limits beyond which humans don’t survive. People in places like Paris, Chicago, and Danbury aren’t acclimated to such high summer temps. When the heat increases, they focus on their discomfort. The present becomes more highly present. It’s tough to think about the future, near or far, with sweat on the brow. And comparing present discomfort with past discomfort is like trying to feel the pain of long ago caused by a stubbed toe.
During those times of discomfort, our limitations generate a focus on the present. Everyone is forced into self-awareness. And many succumb to the “end-of-the-world syndrome” in thinking that the present conditions are the worst conditions. It always amazes me when I hear people speak of summer temperatures as though they never lived through a previous summer. And I could say the same for people with regard to their responses to wintertime cold spells. Seems that every extreme weather event occurs in an historical vacuum.
The presence of the present that our comfort index forces upon us contrasts with the presence of the past that we force upon ourselves by regret, grudge, and nostalgia. It’s as though we carry emotional weather with us, whereas we leave weather conditions behind. Is it because we know that weather is temporary? Every heat wave and cold spell will pass no matter how extreme.
In contrast, regret, grudge, and sorrow establish a presence of the past that heat indexes can never match. Shortly after the passing of a heat wave, we get over the presence of the present; we can even resume thinking about the future. But the presence of past emotions can be a constant. Which is worse? A present discomfort that is temporary or a past discomfort that is permanent? For many, the presence of the past can be worse than the presence of the present.