Record Breaking Heat Hits Chicago

In the first week of classes, Chicago welcomed students with record breaking heat, causing setbacks to Welcome Week celebrations, including a student to the Edgewater Farmers Market trip. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 27, measurements kept at O’Hare International Airport broke a heat record that has been in place for nearly 51 years, according to the National Weather Service. The recorded 99 degrees surpassed the previous record high temperature of 97 degrees set back in 1973. 

Following the historically hot day, severe thunderstorm warnings hit the Chicagoland area. 

Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus experienced severe thunderstorms Aug. 27 and the highest precipitation recorded in August, according to the National Weather Service. 

“The only Welcome Week program that was altered this year due to the weather was a trip to the Edgewater Farmers Market on Monday, August 26,” Loyola spokesperson Matthew McDermott wrote in an email to The Phoenix. 

Richard Di Maio, a Loyola instructor in the School of Environmental Sustainability, said the three-day heat wave was unusual because of how humid it was. A high relative humidity, which he understands to be a danger for the environment, was observed Monday, Aug. 26 and especially Tuesday, Aug 27.

“Over the last 50 years we have definitely seen an increase in the amount of rain in the midwest, particularly in the spring and in the summer,” Di Maio said. 

Because of the dramatic difference in precipitation and humidity observed since the 1970s, there is a clear shift in weather patterns, Di Maio said. 

“Spring weather is beginning a month earlier, and summer weather goes longer into the month of October,” Di Maio said. 

These weather changes, once unforeseen, now demand attention, as the community is faced with the dangers of an inconsistent environment, according to Di Maio. 

The health risks caused by high heat and humidity were a main concern for Wellness Center educator Callie Powers. Access to resources such as hydration, SPF and public air conditioned spaces, is vital in sustaining health during times such as these, Powers wrote in an email. 

However, Di Maio emphasized the significance of not just accommodating the climate crisis, but learning to combat it, particularly when it affects vulnerable portions of society. 

The effects of climate change concern the whole planet, and therefore the fight against climate change should be a universal one, Di Maio explained. 

He noted the various countries unable to mitigate extreme weather events, such as catastrophic flooding, that are caused by the continuing rise in a warmer climate. 

“Those are the areas around the world that our type of country is supposed to help,” said Di Maio. 

Di Maio said a main focus of his class is addressing the issue of climate change as it pertains to everyone. While the community in Rogers Park and Chicago may not be the most vulnerable to this crisis, Di Maio said it’s one of the strongest, it’s one who can learn to help the vulnerable. 

“Our goal is to help other people…To me, that’s the goal of a Jesuit institution,”  Di Maio said. 

Di Maio exclaimed the awareness brought forward by the intense heat conditions, saying that experiencing a piece of the climate crisis first hand should be the catalyst of action towards providing help.