A few weeks ago, I embarked on a road trip from Charlottesville, Virginia to my hometown in Rogers, Arkansas. As I drove west, hoping to escape the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, I realized it was following me all the way to Arkansas. This smoke, much like the extreme weather we’ve been experiencing in the South, felt oppressive and inescapable.
This week, Charlottesville and the South were hit with more wildfire smoke while battling a heat wave, thunderstorms, and heavy rain. Central Arkansas, which was recently struck by severe thunderstorms, now faces excessive heat advisories and poor air quality. The weather has become increasingly unpredictable and extreme, as demonstrated by the sudden hailstorm I witnessed while picking peaches in my friends’ garden.
Meanwhile, in Texas, people who endured a deadly cold spell earlier this year are now facing scorching temperatures that could reach 115 degrees. The heat index in certain cities has exceeded 125 degrees, posing a serious threat to vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with respiratory conditions. Tragically, some individuals, like Tina Perritt from Louisiana, have lost their lives due to the heat and lack of power.
Southern summers have always been known for their heat and humidity. However, the recent pattern of extreme weather events—from drought to heavy rainfall, record-breaking cold to sweltering heat, and storms to sunshine—has created an apocalyptic atmosphere. Our beloved Southern summers have become unbearable.
These extremes are interconnected: the heat fuels severe thunderstorms in some areas and ignites wildfires in others, causing damage to homes, cars, power lines, and leaving people stranded. The power grid in Texas, already strained by past winters and the current heatwave, has become a major issue. Thankfully, solar and wind power are providing some relief. Nevertheless, when the lights go out or pipes burst, families are left to endure the increasing heat without air conditioning or sometimes even water.
As someone who grew up in Arkansas, I became accustomed to power outages during specific seasons, like winter ice storms and tornado warnings in March. However, these so-called disasters now feel more frequent and unfamiliar. A tornado hit my parents’ house in October a few years ago. Recently, my friends and I sought refuge from the heat by floating down the Rivanna River, only to find ourselves drifting through wildfire haze for three hours. It seemed like we had escaped one hazard only to expose ourselves to another.
Climate change exacerbates these disasters, and economic hardships further impact marginalized communities, especially the unhoused, the elderly, and the incarcerated. Take Connie Edmonson, a 78-year-old woman in rural Everton, Arkansas, for example. She missed an electricity payment for her mobile home due to medical bills related to heart and breathing issues. Extreme heat has endangered her in the past, with several instances of heat stroke. Without the combined efforts of Legal Aid and her doctor convincing the electricity provider to restore power, she feared she wouldn’t survive.
The South is plagued with various inequalities, and every swing from extreme heat to cold caused by climate change deepens those divisions. Laborers, in particular, face immense vulnerability. The South’s agricultural industry, historically supported by enslaved Black workers and now relying on farmworkers, is exempt from the National Labor Relations Act due to the influence of segregationist lawmakers. This means that farmworkers—primarily noncitizen immigrants from Latin America, often living below the poverty line—have limited legal rights and are not protected from extreme heat. In fact, farmworkers are 20 times more likely to die from heat-related injuries compared to other laborers. A study from 2020 predicts that farmworkers will need to work in extreme heat twice as much by mid-century. Recently, Texas rescinded rules for construction workers, depriving them of mandatory water breaks and placing them at greater risk of dehydration and heat stroke.
Federal and state labor laws, along with better infrastructure like power grids, tree canopies, cooling shelters, and accessible water sources, could help protect workers from these hazardous conditions. Inequities are also evident in urban areas, with low-income neighborhoods lacking green spaces and having more concrete, resulting in temperatures up to 20 degrees higher than wealthier, predominantly white neighborhoods.
This is the future we face. Rising temperatures, worsening storms, and increased wildfire smoke and cold snaps. Inequality will continue to deepen, affecting the same marginalized communities on the front lines of these catastrophes. Power grids will keep failing, especially in states that neglect to invest in infrastructure for both wealthy and marginalized populations. The layering of haze, hail, and heat may sometimes feel overwhelming and hopeless, and southern summers will never be the same. However, together, we can strive to mitigate the damage.
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