Currently in Miami — August 11, 2023: Dangerous heat ahead

The weather, currently.

Friday will be another extremely hot day in South Florida, and rain chances will dwindle as a drier air mass rolls in. The heat index will certainly reach Heat Advisory criteria, but may well warrant Excessive Heat Warnings once again—a now almost daily occurrence that used to be a rarity. The expected levels are in the mid-90s for temperatures and between 100-115 degrees for heat indices. Keep safe by staying hydrated and reducing your outdoor exposure and activity. The majority of Friday’s showers and thunderstorms will form well west of the coast, with only the most inland communities likely to be affected. An approaching tropical wave will bring increased moisture and thus heightened chances of showers and thunderstorms over the weekend and into early next week.

El tiempo, actualmente.

El viernes será otro día extremadamente caluroso en el sur de Florida, y las posibilidades de lluvia disminuirán a medida que entre una zona de aire más seca. Los índices de calor ciertamente alcanzarán los criterios de Advertencia de Calor, pero es probable que justifiquen Avisos de Calor Excesivo otra vez el viernes—algo que solía ser una rareza, pero ahora ocurre casi a diario. Esté seguro manteniéndose hidratado y reduciendo su exposición y actividad al aire libre. La mayoría de los aguaceros y tormentas eléctricas del viernes se formarán muy al oeste de la costa, y solo las comunidades más hacia el interior se verán afectadas. Una onda tropical que se aproximará al sur de Florida traerá un aumento de la humedad y, por lo tanto, mayores posibilidades de aguaceros y tormentas eléctricas durante el fin de semana y hasta principios de la próxima semana.

—John Morales

What you need to know, currently.

This week’s firestorm on Maui is the latest climate disaster to utterly transform a place and its people in a matter of hours. It’s also now one of the deadliest wildfires in US history, with potentially worse news to come in the days ahead as rescuers continue to work in burned areas.

As more survivor footage emerges, it’s clear that what happened in Maui was absolutely hellish.

The fires are a “scorching warning” says Kaniela Ing, a seventh-generation Native Hawaiian, politician, and community organizer. “People hit first and worse by the climate crisis tend to be Black, indigenous and low income. Yet we’re the keepers of the knowledge of how to build a society that wouldn’t cause ecological collapse and societal doom.”

Hawaiian youth are leading a lawsuit against their state government for its role in accelerating the climate emergency in violation of their constitutional rights, and recently found out they will be the second constitutional climate case in US history to go to trial. (The first was earlier this year in Montana, which Currently covered here.)

We all have the ability and duty to demand a better world. If you’re feeling motivated to help Hawaii in this moment of crisis, please lend your support to youth-led and Native-led movements.

—Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

The fires in Maui have struck at the heart of Hawaiian heritage, and if you’d like to support survivors, here are good places to start:

The fires burned through the capital town of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the ancestral and present home to native Hawaiians on their original unceded lands. One of the buildings destroyed was the Na ‘Aikane o Maui cultural center, a gathering place for the Hawaiian community to organize and celebrate.

If you’d like to help the community rebuild and restore the cultural center, a fund has been established that is accepting donations — specify “donation for Na ‘Aikane” on this Venmo link.