Op-ed by New Mexico State Representative Debbie Sariñana
June 18, 2024
The climate crisis has supercharged extreme weather conditions, setting the stage for new types of catastrophes that are increasing in both intensity and frequency. When they overlap, the dangers grow with potentially deadly consequences.
The two wildfires near Ruidoso started on Mescalero Apache Tribal lands June 17 burning hot and fast as they swept across more than 24,000 acres collectively, over 1,400 structures burned, and at least two people tragically died. Roughly 8,000 people were evacuated, leaving their homes and years of memories behind. It’s hard to imagine being in the path of a fire facing fear, anxiety and an unknown future before you.
As the infernos raged fire crews found themselves in torrential rains with hail the size of gulf balls as Tropical Storm Alberto hit causing chaos. Emergency management crews shifted gears from fire support to water rescues. As the sky opened up eight inches drenched central New Mexico – more rainfall than a yearly rainfall totals. Then the winds swirled conjuring up a wall of dust. Thar dust storm stretched hundreds of miles long creating another emergency.
Scorching weather across the south-west has baked the moisture out of land and accelerated the historic long-term drought increasing the wildfire risks. With the top soil dried out the winds easily fueled the dust storm.
These threats are only going to rise as the climate crisis worsens if we continue to burn fossil fuels for energy. The number of state-declared disasters in New Mexico has quadrupled since 2019 because of the climate crisis. We are creating the conditions for these weather extreme disasters. We can and must do something about it.
This year has been the hottest on record and already large swaths of the world have endured blistering temperatures in heatwaves. The World Weather Attribution group of climate scientists said the extreme high temperatures experienced across the region this spring were four times as likely to occur today as a quarter of a century ago. These scientists said as the world continues to burn fossil fuels and emit climate-heating greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, millions more people are expected to be exposed to dangerous levels of heat in the future.
With extreme heat comes the risk from heat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke—a potentially fatal condition that occurs when the body’s internal cooling mechanism begins to fail.
The death certificates of more than 2,300 people who died in the United States last summer mention the effects of excessive heat, the highest number on record, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet that number is grossly underreported as other fatalities could have been recorded as a heart attacks or other preexisting health conditions. Tragically, more heat related deaths happen in Justice40 communities of low income. In these areas many residents can’t afford air-conditioning, and the lack of shade in open spaces intensifies the heat. Heat is the leading weather-related cause of mortalities in the US, outpacing deaths from hurricanes by a factor of eight.
Extreme temperatures, hurricanes and other dangerous weather events all contribute to an increased risk of heart disease and heart-related death, researchers recently reported in the journal JAMA Cardiology.
According to the Oil and Gas Threat Map over 144,000 people in New Mexico live within a half-mile of an oil and gas facility. That number includes 20 percent of the state’s Indigenous residents. This “threat radius” is correlated with adverse health outcomes, including cancer, respiratory illness, fetal defects, blood disorders, and neurological problems stemming from chemicals associated with oil and gas production.
Pollutants from more than 62,000 oil and gas facilities in New Mexico include the carcinogen benzene, hydrogen sulfide and “volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone (smog),” according to the EPA. The American Lung Association reported the four major oil and gas-producing counties in New Mexico received failing grades for high ozone days.
Children just going to school are breathing is these toxins daily, now too many have had to flee with their families from extreme weather. We have a duty to protect all our citizens from dangers yet we are creating the situations for them to occur.
We know fossil fuel production, extraction and usage leads to chronic health problems. Scientist have also proved the correlation of fossil fuel greenhouse gasses to the climate warming, which continues to create extreme weather conditions. These emissions’ have been changing our atmosphere since the gas vehicle hit the roads. Too many have suffered premature deaths.
We the people have the power to ensure energy security with clean energy sources. We can and must transition to use 100 percent clean energy to hold back extreme weather events, and critic ally save lives and our planet.