Air conditioning is a human right

Plus more health news | Email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [Health Matters]( [Heat-related prison deaths are rising due to climate change]( By Aryn Baker Senior Correspondent Being a journalist often requires imagining yourself living someone else’s life. To report my latest story, I not only had to mentally put on someone else’s shoes, I had to place myself in their prison cell on an excessively hot day. I’ve certainly lived through my share of heatwaves—in 2018, I spent a week of 123°F days in Jacobabad, Pakistan, which is considered to be the [hottest city]( in the world—but even then, I had the option of taking a cold shower, buying an ice-cold drink, or ducking into an air-conditioned shop when it got to be too much. For most prisoners in the U.S., those beat-the-heat strategies simply don’t exist, and as temperatures rise due to climate change, they are paying the price in poor health outcomes—and in some cases, even death. Brown University environmental epidemiologist Julie Skarha estimates that the U.S. prison population death rate rises 5.2% for every 10°F increase in temperature above historical averages—counting some 635 prison deaths due to high heat between 2001 and 2019. Few state prisons are air conditioned, most egregiously in Texas, where triple-digit summer days can turn a short stint for unpaid parking bills into a death sentence. Advocates are pushing to make air-conditioning mandatory in Texas prisons, and while a prison air-conditioning bill sailed through the state's House of Representatives last month, it looks like it will wither in the State Senate this week as the legislation session draws to a close. “I’d love to see the AC go out during a heatwave in the Capitol while they’re in session,” says prisoner rights advocate Amite Dominick. That might be what it takes to convince legislators that air conditioning is a necessity, not a luxury. “It’s only when it hits your own house that you really want to pay attention to it.” [READ MORE]( Share This Story What Else to Read [How Hypnosis Works, According to Science]( By Eleanor Cummins The practice helps people enter into a unique state of consciousness. [Read More »]( [The Best Stove for Your Health and the Environment]( By Madison Dapcevich Gas vs. electric vs. induction. [Read More »]( [The Unsettled—and Unsettling—Science of Lawn Chemicals]( By Tik Root Here’s what experts say people should do to keep their grass, and themselves, healthy. [Read More »]( [How ‘Micro-Breaks’ Can Help You Feel Better at Work]( By Tara Law The trick is limiting these breaks to no more than 10 minutes. [Read More »]( [Tuning in to Your Most-Ignored Sense Can Make You Happier]( By Haley Weiss Want to feel happier? Curating your soundscape may benefit your physical and mental health. [Read More »]( AN EXPERT VOICE "People understand that they can test [for COVID-19], and they feel capable of testing. Our next job is to make all testing so affordable that you test every time. Imagine if it were only $1. If it were the same as a pack of gum, you would probably go out and get tests all the time." —Dr. Yuka Manabe, infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine --------------------------------------------------------------- If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, [click here](. Today's newsletter was written by Aryn Baker and Jamie Ducharme, and edited by Angela Haupt. [Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters.]( [Subscribe to TIME]( TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Connect with TIME via [Facebook]( | [Twitter]( | [Newsletters]( [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS]( TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508 Questions? Contact health@time.com Copyright © 2023 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.