Surviving the Sizzle: How to Beat the Heat and the Anxiety It Brings

My first real summer job, when I was 14, was at a tree nursery. It was hard, grueling work in the open fields, cutting the root systems around young evergreens and then pulling them from the baked earth. It was also hot work. The temperatures that summer simmered in a brutal range of 104 to 106 degrees. The only water we had came from a large, orange container that also sat out in the sun, ensuring that when we finally got a drink, it was a punishing gulp of warm, plastic-tasting liquid.

That memory of youthful misery feels chillingly relevant today as a record-breaking heat dome scorches the eastern half of the United States, pushing public health systems and critical infrastructure to the brink. On Tuesday, the thermometer in New York’s Central Park hit 99 degrees, shattering a daily record that had stood since 1888. At the city’s airports, temperatures soared even higher, hitting 103 in Newark and 102 at JFK.

This isn’t just a weather story; it’s a multi-front crisis. And surviving it requires a two-front battle: one to protect our bodies from the immediate physical danger, and another to protect our minds from the anxiety and powerlessness these events can breed.

Stories from the Front Lines

Decades after my summer at the nursery, a new generation of Americans is enduring the same trial by fire. In Washington D.C., where the heat index soared to 110 degrees, Jonathan DeLoatch, an AC technician, described working in a 140-degree attic as “worse than a sauna.” Sergio Sosa, a street food vendor, said that standing over his cart, he felt like he was “cooking like a hot dog.”

Their survival depends on a kind of practical wisdom. Zookeepers at the Maryland Zoo perform their most strenuous cleaning in the cool of the early morning. They eat Popsicles to stay cool while making “bloodsicles” and “fishsicles” for the lions and cheetahs. And Ben Smith, a Virginia dairy farmer facing down miserable heat to harvest hay, shared what should be everyone’s motto in this weather: “Nothing is that important to kill ourselves to get it done today.”

Strong Advice, Part 1: Protecting Your Body

That motto is a vital first step, but surviving this level of heat requires a clear understanding of the danger and a proactive plan. The threat isn’t just the temperature; it’s the humidity. High humidity cripples your body’s primary cooling system—the evaporation of sweat—which can lead to a rapid and dangerous rise in your core temperature.

This is a medical crisis waiting to happen. To prevent it, you must know the warning signs and take immediate action.

Early Warning Signs of Overheating: If you or someone around you begins to experience these symptoms, all activity must stop immediately. Get to a cool place, hydrate, and seek medical care if they persist.

• Muscle cramping or weakness
• Dizziness or headaches
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea

Heat Stroke is a Medical Emergency: If symptoms escalate to include confusion, slurred speech, seizures, or a loss of consciousness, the body is losing its ability to regulate its own temperature. This is heat stroke. Call 911 immediately.

The CDC’s Action Plan for Staying Safe:

• Time Your Activities: Avoid strenuous work or exercise during the hottest parts of the day. If you must be outside, aim for early morning or late evening.
• Hydrate Proactively: Drink plenty of fluids—preferably water—before you get thirsty. An expert from the first source, a farmer, adds a pinch of an electrolyte mix to his water. It’s crucial to limit sugary drinks, alcohol, and caffeine, which can accelerate dehydration.
• Seek Shade and Take Breaks: Stay out of the direct sun. Rest often. Don’t try to power through the heat.
• Use the Buddy System: Always work or exercise with a partner. Experts at UCLA’s Heat Lab warn that people are notoriously bad at gauging their own level of heat stress. A partner can spot the warning signs you might miss.

The System Under Siege

While individuals struggle, our societal infrastructure is buckling under the strain. The heat wave has pushed the entire eastern U.S. power grid to the brink, with generation margins described as “razor-thin.” In New York and New England, wholesale electricity prices have skyrocketed to more than ten times their normal rate as overheated transmission lines become congested.

The situation grew so dire on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Energy had to issue an emergency order, compelling utility companies like Duke Energy to run specific power plants at maximum output simply to keep the lights on and avoid rotating blackouts for millions of people.

Strong Advice, Part 2: Protecting Your Mind

Beyond the immediate physical danger and the strain on our infrastructure, events like this record-breaking heat wave take a hidden toll: the emotional burden of living through the consequences of a changing climate. The anxiety, grief, and sense of helplessness are real.

But just as there is a plan to protect your body, there are strategies to build mental and emotional resilience.

• Get Active Locally: The feeling of powerlessness is one of the most corrosive aspects of climate anxiety. The antidote is agency. Find a local project where you can make a tangible difference: work to establish a new green space, help restore a local waterway, or convince neighbors to replace grass lawns with native plants that support biodiversity. Action is a powerful cure for despair.
• Manage Your News Intake: It is easy to be overwhelmed by a 24/7 cycle of disaster news. Try scheduling breaks from your phone notifications. One expert suggests a “positivity sandwich”: start your day with a piece of good news, allow yourself to read a harder story, then finish with another positive one.
• Talk About It: Studies show that while a vast majority of young people (84%) are worried about climate change, most of them think they are alone in that worry. This isolation breeds anxiety. Break the cycle. Find your words and talk to friends, family, and neighbors about your concerns and your hopes. You will likely find you are far from alone.
• Think Collectively: A single person cannot stop a heat wave, and that immense pressure is the source of much anxiety. Climate scientist Kate Marvel urges us to reframe the problem. “The atmosphere cares about what all of us together are doing,” she says. Your individual actions—conserving power during peak hours, planting a tree, helping a neighbor—are not isolated drops in an ocean. They are part of a powerful, collective wave of action.

Surviving the sizzle of 2025 requires a two-front battle. It requires the practical wisdom of that 14-year-old at the tree nursery—to hydrate, find shade, and endure. But it also demands a new wisdom: the resilience to face the anxiety these events cause, and the courage to find power not in individual struggle, but in collective action.