The Daily Standard
Story Archive
In this photo taken in late May, a farmer bales hay in a field along U.S. 127 near Carthagena.
CELINA - Area officials are cautioning farmers and others who work outdoors to be mindful of heat illnesses amid unofficial record-high global temperatures.
Ryan McMichael, Mercer County agriculture and natural resources educator for Ohio State University Extension, said farmers are in a hurry to harvest their wheat and bale straw.
"Some of them (will be) doing the round baling, but we still have a lot (who) might be doing some square baling, which is labor intensive," McMichael said. "They'll have possibly the family out there to help put that into the different barns and storage facilities they have. When we have some of those facilities… definitely heat exhaustion can become an important factor."
Even experienced workers are vulnerable to heat-related illness, although some are unwilling to admit it or are unaware of the symptoms, said Dee Jepsen, OSU Extension state leader, in a news release from OSU Extension. High temperatures can cause serious illness and even death.
"There seems to be a stigma associated with being affected by heat illness," Jepsen said in the release. "Some of the typical responses from some as to why they're unwilling to acknowledge the risk of heat illness include, 'I don't need a break,' 'I need to prove I can work hard,' or 'I don't usually need to drink a lot of water.'"
A heat stress injury occurs when the body cannot regulate its temperature, according to information provided by OSU Extension. When the body works correctly, it is self-cooled by perspiration.
When the body's temperature rises faster than it can cool itself, the core temperature begins to rise quickly and can result in heat-related injuries.
Signs of heat illness can include headache, nausea, weakness, dizziness, elevated body temperature, thirst, decreased urine output and heavy sweating or hot, dry skin, according to the release. Signs of a potential medical emergency include abnormal thinking or behavior, slurred speech, seizures or loss of consciousness.
Heat exhaustion is most common in hot weather and characterized by heavy sweating, clammy skin, muscle cramps, tiredness or weakness, headaches, nausea and a fast, weak pulse, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Heat stroke is a potentially life-threatening condition marked by a body temperature of 103 degrees or higher; red, hot and dry skin with no sweating; rapid pulse; headaches; dizziness; nausea; confusion; unconsciousness and gray skin color.
Steps to prevent heat illness include drinking water every 20 minutes, taking breaks in shady or cool locations and wearing a wide-brimmed hat and light-colored, loose-fitting breathable clothes, per the release.
"Some tips to help lessen the potential for heat illness in agricultural workers include increasing general ventilation in barns and outdoor structures or installing cooling fans and misters under tents during outdoor fieldwork and vegetable crop activities," Jepsen said. "Other strategies include reducing manual labor, increasing the use of mechanized systems, and taking frequent breaks during peak heat hours."
Heat-related illnesses could become more frequent as local and global temperatures continue to creep unnaturally high. Earth's average temperature set a new unofficial record high on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that is already rated as the hottest week on record and what one prominent scientist says could be the hottest week in 120,000 years, according to the Associated Press.
"Records grab attention, but we need to make sure to connect them with the things that actually matter," said climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Imperial College of London. "So I don't think it's crucial how 'official' the numbers are, what matters is that they are huge and dangerous and wouldn't have happened without climate change."
Thursday's planetary average temperature surpassed the 62.9-degree mark set Tuesday and equaled Wednesday, according to data from the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer, a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world's condition.
Until Monday, no day had passed the 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit mark in the tool's 44 years of records. Now, the entire week that ended Thursday averaged that much.
"It is certainly plausible that the past couple days and past week were the warmest days globally in 120,000 years," said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
