Temperatures all across the Greater L.A. area have hovered above 90 degrees for the last week. In parts of the valleys, they reached north of 100 several times. To make matters worse, the heat has been paired with an uncommon amount of humidity<\/a> \u2014 thanks, in part, to El Ni\u00f1o increasing ocean temperatures. <\/p>\n This ridiculous heatwave is unfortunately our new reality, which is perfectly encapsulated by this Simpsons meme<\/a> I\u2019ve seen passed around the internet over the last few years. In it, Bart Simpson bemoans the fact that this summer is \u201cthe hottest summer\u201d of his life, but Homer quickly corrects him by saying, \u201cThis is the coldest summer of the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n Sadly, this isn\u2019t a joke. <\/p>\n The three warmest years on record for average global temperatures are 2025, 2024 and 2023, according to NASA<\/a>. And I have a feeling that 2026 might crack into the top three by year\u2019s end. <\/p>\n In a recent conversation with my dad, he unironically expressed relief that it was cooling off this Saturday because the expected forecast was set at 95. <\/p>\n But he is far from the only Latino carrying the burden of extreme heat in L.A. <\/p>\n Last year, UCLA debuted a data tool<\/a> called the Latino Climate and Health Dashboard, which tracks the environmental health disparities between Latino and white neighborhoods in L.A. It revealed that Latino communities experience 23 more heat days that their white counterparts and have air quality that is twice as bad.<\/p>\n Rima Habre, a professor of environmental health and spatial sciences and director of the CLIMA Health and Extreme Weather Center at USC, noted that one of the main reasons Latinos tend to face these more extreme conditions is because many live in urban heat islands.<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically, there\u2019s been a lot of a disproportionate amount of pavement, construction, industry and cement surfaces placed in these neighborhoods that really trap heat,\u201d Habre told The Times. \u201cAnd at the same time, there\u2019s been disinvestment in trees, parks and cooling amenities.\u201d<\/p>\n She pointed out that Latinos are more likely to have adverse outcomes from handling heat because of the general lack of healthcare resources at their disposal. Latinos experience one of the highest uninsured rates among all ethnic groups. A 2026 U.S. Census Bureau study<\/a> found that 17% of Latinos had no health insurance coverage, which was 9 percentage points higher than the overall U.S. population.<\/p>\n The kinds of work Latinos do also contribute to their exposure.<\/p>\n \u201cMany Latinos [work] in fields that are outdoors or in warehouses that don\u2019t have proper ventilation, let alone air conditioning,\u201d said Michael Mendez, an associate professor of environmental planning and policy at UC Irvine. \u201cOftentimes times they\u2019re laboring, living paycheck to paycheck, so they have to be out there. They have no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of working long hours in blistering heat and returning to a heat island, many Latinos then must maneuver the issue of older housing.<\/p>\n \u201cOftentimes because their houses are older, without proper insulation or ventilation, they are retaining the heat, particularly in a heatwave like this, which doesn\u2019t cool down much at night,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cThere could be situations where in a bedroom, it\u2019s 10 or even 15 degrees hotter than the ambient air outside at night. That\u2019s an additional toll. It\u2019s literally 24 hours of exposure to various forms of extreme heat.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result, Latino are more likely than any other ethnic group to visit the emergency room for heat-related illness and to suffer heat-related deaths, according to the L.A. County public health department<\/a>. <\/p>\n Even if people have air conditioning, it can be expensive to run it day and night for weeks on end, especially for families that are already living paycheck to paycheck. <\/p>\n And the problems unfortunately don\u2019t stop there. Neighborhoods like Boyle Heights \u2014 which is over 90% Latino \u2014 are bordered by freeways, leading to poorer air quality, a 2017 UCLA study<\/a> showed. Throw in an event like the Lineage warehouse fire<\/a> and it creates an untenable living situation. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are rotting carcasses and food that individuals have to breathe in. Some are not turning on their air conditioner because of the horrendous smell that is coming through the vents,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cAnd even if they do have air conditioning, they don\u2019t want to smell that and close all their windows and be trapped in with that stench.\u201d<\/p>\n But why are cities letting this happen to such a sizable population?<\/p>\n \u201cThese areas were never prioritized because they were low-income or immigrant-serving communities that weren\u2019t seen as a priority for politicians \u2014 they included people that couldn\u2019t vote,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cPoliticians prioritize their funding and environmental amenities and goods to areas that they see will support their election. [Because of that] Latino communities, for the most part, haven\u2019t had that advantage of having more climate-resilient funding and environmental amenities to protect communities from extreme heat and other climate-induced disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n OK, so these are the major problems, but what is being done and what can be done to help those affected?<\/p>\n Mayor Karen Bass\u2019 office said Monday that L.A. has \u201chundreds of locations\u201d for residents to stay cool, including Recreation and Parks facilities as well as libraries. The list of those locations is available here<\/a>. The county also has a litany of cooling centers<\/a> that residents can take their families and pets to for relief from the the heat.<\/p>\n At USC\u2019s CLIMA center, directors and staff are doing youth development training and education, so that younger people can be better equipped to have more self-efficacy and leadership around climate issues, Habre said. The center runs workshops on how to build air purifiers, how to measure heat and temperature in homes, and teaches solutions for treating those problems. It has also provided data about how under-served population like the Latino community have been disproportionately affected by extreme heat events to L.A. city and the county officials. <\/p>\n Mendez suggests that elected officials should direct more resources to the communities at the front lines of climate change. <\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019d like for them to] ensure that there is new and more funding prioritized on weatherization of these older homes by providing heating pumps for air conditioning that are more energy efficient and more cost effective for the user itself,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd ensuring that there\u2019s more green space, trees, natural shade for cooling down our neighborhoods.\u201d <\/p>\n Let\u2019s hope those in leadership positions can finally do something right and heed Mendez\u2019s advice. <\/p>\n In the meantime, stay hydrated, stay cool and keep an eye on the young, the old and the sick!<\/p>\n ICE news and updates (Adam Gray \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n It may be blistering hot outside but ICE is not melting this summer. <\/p>\n Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 49,571 people in July, making it the highest monthly total<\/a> of President Trump\u2019s second term. The number of arrests jumped 15% from June and have gone up a remarkable 70% since February. <\/p>\n That news came the same week that ICE agent Christian Castro, who was charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, was released from a Texas jail<\/a>. <\/p>\n Also this week, it was revealed that ICE detained two Cuban musicians. Pianist Andy Garc\u00eda Palacios was on his way to a work event in L.A. when he was arrested by ICE agents on Aug. 15, his legal team told Telemundo<\/a>. His attorney said Garc\u00eda Palacios was in the country legally and that the musicians was waiting to obtain his permanent residency. <\/p>\n ICE claimed that Garc\u00eda Palacios was authorized to stay in the U.S. only until May 2024 and had overstayed his visa.<\/p>\n The Cuba native is detained at ICE\u2019s highly scrutinized Adelanto<\/a> Processing Center. <\/p>\n Latin Grammy-winning composer and percussionist Degnis Bofill was detained by ICE on Aug. 19 at Miami International Airport. <\/p>\n \u201cBofill legally entered the United States on April 15, 2023, but failed to comply with the terms of his admission and is now in violation of immigration law. He will receive due process,\u201d an ICE spokesperson told CBS News<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Cuban percussionist is being held at Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County. <\/p>\n Bofill won a Latin Grammy in 2022 for his participation in the LP \u201cAncestros Sinf\u00f3nico,\u201d which took home the folk album award. <\/p>\n![\"Tear](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787937194_335_.jpeg\")
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