Sweating test dummy being used in Arizona to determine how heat impacts the human body
A stretch of dangerous, record-breaking heat is hitting the Southwest. Phoenix will experience temperatures over 100 degrees for the next two weeks straight, with highs above 104 degrees. It's the third-hottest June on record since 1895.
At Arizona State University, there's a team welcoming summer's surging temperatures. Researchers are using a sweating test dummy called ANDI to study how heat impacts the human body.
"We wanted to understand how these realistic conditions impact the human body," said professor Konrad Rykaczewski, an ASU senior global futures scientist.
The sweating test dummy costs more than $600,000 and is filled with sensors to monitor heat. ANDI is only one of two such mannequins in the world built to leave the lab and venture outside into the day's heat.
"We really see that from day to day, as the heatwave continues, your core temperature starts off half a degree higher every day," said Rykaczewski. "And then you are so much closer to a heat illness."
Last summer, Phoenix saw a record 54 days at or above 110 degrees, including all 31 days in July. Maricopa County alone reported 645 heat-related deaths, marking a 52% increase. On average last July, 13 heat-related deaths occurred per day in the county.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Fire Department is using social media to urge people to be heat smart and to avoid hiking during peak temperatures.
Arizona now has the nation's only chief heat officer. Dr. Eugene Livar will oversee the rollout of a new extreme heat preparedness plan.
"I think what keeps me up is just, 'is there anything else we can do?'" Livar said. "'Is there more that we can do?"'
Beyond Phoenix, 20 million people in the Southwest U.S. were under extreme heat alerts Monday. According to the NWS Weather Prediction Center, there are excessive heat warnings, watches and heat advisories over parts of California, the Southwest and western Texas on Tuesday.
