Technologies
Pixel 8 Pro Ongoing Review: Google Plans Fix to Address Camera Issues
Google knows where the problem lies and expects a fix in «very soon,» the company told CNET.
Editor’s note: This is an ongoing review that was originally published on Oct. 11. The latest update was published on Oct. 14.
We found problems with the Google Pixel 8 Pro in our early testing. The most notable issues were with the camera, which exhibited odd artifacts, especially in high-contrast situations. We’ve now spent over a week testing multiple models of the phone across the globe. We’ve taken hundreds of images and been able to gain a deeper understanding of the issues we’ve seen.
CNET reporter Stephen Shankland unpacked many of the Pixel 8 Pro’s issues and elaborated on what might be causing them. It’s largely a software problem, and Google knows where the problem lies and expects a fix «very soon,» the company told CNET on Thursday.
While we’re still seeing the same image-processing problems after more testing, we’ve also amassed numerous examples where the Pixel 8 Pro performed extremely well. We tested it in daylight, at night, and how it compares to rivals including the iPhone 15 Pro and the older Pixel 7 Pro.
Right now, we’re confident that the camera issues are relatively minor and that many of you who’ve already bought the phone may not even notice. But a $999 (£999, AU$1,699) phone should not have problems like these, so we’re postponing our final verdict until we see the difference the upcoming software update makes.
Below, you’ll find an ongoing review of the phone with my opinions on the design, display, processor and battery, informed by multiple editors’ testing. I’ll continue updating this review over the coming days as I retest the phone, especially the camera. We haven’t found any of these issues testing the regular Pixel 8 and, in fact, really like it.
What does this mean for you? If you’re looking to buy the Pixel 8 Pro, we advise you to wait. Keep your eye on this review as it develops and wait for our final verdict.
A week-plus with the Pixel 8 Pro
The Pixel 8 Pro is Google’s latest flagship phone, and as such packs a host of refinements over its predecessor, including a new processor, cameras and more AI skills. I loved the older Pixel 7 Pro and believed it was one of the best Android phones money could buy. The 8 Pro has a lot to live up to.
Putting aside the camera problems I’ve experienced, the Pixel 8 Pro has plenty going for it, from its solid gaming performance, its decent battery life and its slick Android 14 interface. But the most important change is that Google is committing to seven years of software updates for the phone, a huge boost over its previous offering and much more than most other Android manufacturers. It means this phone should still be going strong in 2030, if it lives up to Google’s claims.
The triple rear-camera setup got some updates, including wider apertures on both the main and telephoto lenses and higher resolution for the ultrawide lens.
But it’s the camera that’s been most problematic for us in our testing so far and needs to be resolved before we could recommend it. Several of our test images with high-contrast scenes show bizarre-looking image noise and artifacts in the shadowy areas, along with extremely aggressive software smoothing on areas that should maintain detail. I found similar issues in night mode photos, too.
Shankland’s Pixel 8 Pro camera analysis dives more deeply into the cause of some of these problems. It essentially boils down to how the software tries to blend multiple image exposures together and doesn’t do a particularly neat job at it. However, software problems can be remedied and Google has said that an update is coming soon that should address the worst of our concerns.
The phone’s DNG raw files tend to come out worse, with increased image noise and a weird muddiness to the scene that needs heavy corrections. It’s likely, though, that this is exacerbated by poor compatibility with raw editing apps like Lightroom and may be rectified as Adobe support rolls out.
There’s a 1- to 2- second delay I encountered when taking 50-megapixel raw images, which likely won’t be going away. Google explained that this delay is simply due to the phone having to take multiple, massive files and piece them together. It’s a highly complicated process, and it’s clearly a burden for the Tensor G3 processor. Indeed, shooting raw at 12 megapixels has no such delay. As a result, the high-res mode is best used for static landscapes, not fast-paced shots of your kids playing on the beach. I hope that next year’s Pixel 9 Pro has a more powerful chip that can speed up this process.
It’s not all bad, though. Many images taken with the wide, ultrawide and 5x zoom lenses have come out extremely well in good lighting, lower-light indoor shots are bright and sharp, and I’ve had good success with night-time street images too. I also enjoyed using the long exposure mode to add some ethereal blurred movement effects to some photos.
The Pixel 7 Pro had a superb camera that was capable of taking glorious images with any of its lenses. While the Pixel 8 Pro clearly has some teething troubles, both Shankland and I are confident that fixes will come that will help make this a much more well-rounded camera for both amateurs and enthusiasts alike.
Design and display
Physically, it’s clear to see the Pixel 8 Pro’s family resemblance to its predecessors, with the big camera bar across the back. It’s not a big design departure from last year’s model, but that rear glass panel is now frosted rather than glossy, which gives it a softer feel to hold while making it a little less prone to fingerprints. I don’t think it looks quite as premium or classy as the Pixel 7 Pro’s sage and gold design, at least not in the plain black variant I’ve been given to test.
The camera bar sticks out a long way — around 4 millimeters in fact, which is even more than on the 7 Pro. The 8 Pro is comfortable to hold, but I do sometimes find it catches when I’m trying to slide it into my jeans pocket. I’m nitpicking here, but it’s one of those things that could become more annoying over time. With a case attached that reduces the height difference between the body and the bar, the problem goes away.
The frame is made in part from recycled aluminum (just like in older Pixel phones) and the phone is IP68 rated for water-resistance, which will keep it safe from spilled drinks or when taking calls in the rain. The 6.7-inch display is the same size as on the Pixel 7 Pro. It’s bright and vibrant and easily does justice to whatever colorful YouTube or Netflix video you want to watch on the bus.
Temperature sensor
One little tweak on the back is a small circle next to the camera flash that houses a brand new feature: a temperature sensor. It allows the phone to give temperature readings from objects or surfaces. It’s easy enough to do, just fire up the temperature app and hold the phone about 5 centimeters from your object, as though you’re taking a close-up photo. Tap the screen and it’ll give you a readout on how hot that object is.
The idea is that you can use it to test the temperature of drinks before you take a big gulp, or to make sure that piece of peach pie isn’t hotter than the sun before you shovel it into your face and burn your mouth to cinders. It works well in my testing so far, with it fairly accurately showing the increase in temperature on my kettle as I boiled water for a cup of tea.
And while I can imagine it sometimes being helpful — parents could use it to check the temperature of a baby’s bottle, for example — I think its real-world application is limited. It feels like a feature that’s been shoehorned in to act as a differentiator from the competition. Heck, it can’t even take your body temperature, though Google is seeking clearance from the US FDA to use it for that purpose. And sure, the Pixel 8 Pro now has a feature that the iPhone 15 doesn’t, but is it really a feature you care about? I’m not sure that I do.
Processor and Android 14
The Pixel 8 Pro comes with Google’s latest homemade processor, the Tensor G3, but we can’t yet tell you how it performs. At the time of writing I’m unable to install any kind of benchmarking apps to directly compare it to its rivals, but anecdotally it seems like a capable chip. Navigation around the Android 14 interface is swift: Apps open without any delays and multitasking between open apps is a breeze.
Graphically demanding games like Genshin Impact, PUBG and Real Racing 3 all play with buttery-smooth frame rates at maximum graphics settings. I’ve yet to find anything that really slows the phone down. The Tensor G3 chipset also enables AI features, but their quality is uneven, with some taking so long to process that I simply didn’t bother (more on these below).
The big advancement we can confirm is longevity. Google committed to providing seven years of software and security updates to the Pixel 8 series, which is a big improvement over the four years it previously offered. By comparison, Samsung offers four years of software and five of security updates. Longer security support times are a huge way of reducing the environmental impact of phones, as the hardware on older models is often still working fine, but it’s simply not safe to keep using devices with outdated software.
Google’s software commitment means the Pixel 8 Pro should still be going strong in 2030, which is the longest of any major Android manufacturer and only really rivaled by Fairphone, which offers eight years of security updates on its latest Fairphone 5. It’s good to see Google extending its support period and I hope it encourages more manufacturers to do the same.
The Pixel 8 Pro launches with Android 14 which itself isn’t that different from Android 13, with a near-identical visual look that includes various ways to customize elements of the interface. Google has sprinkled in some additional AI features throughout though, including a new generative AI wallpaper creator.
The tool lets you select from a variety of prompts, including object words such as «bicycle» or «lighthouse,» texture words like «wood» or «bamboo» and various color and art style words to create a unique backdrop. It’s fun to play with and I’ve enjoyed experimenting with different prompt combinations to find images I like. I don’t always love the results — sometimes the AI hasn’t done a great job — and only being able to choose from a set of predefined prompts means it’s not open to the sort of wild infinite customization you might expect from generative AI.
Google has woven in AI features elsewhere into the phone, including call screening, the ability to summarize articles in web pages (both of which are exclusive to the US at launch) and better speech-to-text and translation tools. But it’s also used for image editing, with AI tools letting you selectively edit the sky in a landscape photo, make objects or people bigger or smaller in the frame or remove them completely. The results don’t always look great — at least not to my eye as a professional photographer — but they can be fun ways of tweaking more casual snaps.
I found that it took between 13 and 18 seconds for the AI to make each edit, which felt like a frustratingly long time to wait. It remains to be seen whether that’s down to the processor performance or if it’s a software issue that could be remedied. In my time with the phone, I found these delays long enough to put me off wanting to play around further. On the Pixel 8, however, these edits generally took around 5 seconds.
There’s also a new tool called Best Take, which takes a burst of images and blends them into one shot where everyone should look their best by automatically picking the best faces of a group of subjects. I’ve not found this useful in my time with the phone. It requires at least six different images of a group of people for the AI to choose from and I normally just take one or two of my friends, which isn’t enough. To make use of it, I’d have to learn to start using burst mode more often when taking group shots, which feels like I’m having to create a problem for this feature to solve.
Then again, my colleague Patrick Holland enjoyed putting the feature to use in his review of the smaller Pixel 8. Patrick found it worked well in his shots, with a mostly seamless replacement of people’s faces in the final image. Your experience with it may vary depending on how you use your phone’s camera, so take my opinion here with a grain of salt.
Battery
Stuffed inside the Pixel 8 Pro is a 5,050-mAh battery, which put in a decent performance on our various battery drain tests. After 1 hour of streaming a YouTube video at max brightness the phone had dropped from full to 97% remaining, which is good. After the third hour it had dropped to 84% which is below what we’ve seen from the iPhone 15 series, but in line with the Galaxy S23.
It’s a demanding test and in everyday use you shouldn’t struggle to get through a whole day of mixed use. Just avoid spending hours streaming video or playing demanding games if you want to have juice left to call a cab home after your night on the town. As with most phones, though, you’ll almost certainly want to give it a full charge when you go to bed each night.
Should you buy the Pixel 8 Pro?
After deeper testing and conversations with Google’s Pixel team, we’re increasingly confident that the early camera issues we experienced are largely software-based. Imminent updates should resolve much of what we’ve seen.
Even though photos look good in most situations, these issues are problematic for the audience that Google is pitching the Pixel 8 Pro towards, which is pro photographers. Still, we will continue to test this phone and reserve judgment until we’ve used the camera with its new software.
Technologies
Get Ready for a Striking Aurora That Could Also Disrupt Radio Communications
Don’t expect the storm to cause a lingering problem, though.
A geomagnetic storm is threatening radio communications Monday night, but that doesn’t mean you should be concerned. In fact, it may be an opportunity to see a colorful aurora in the night sky.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a geomagnetic storm watch after witnessing a coronal mass ejection from the sun on Saturday. The watch, which was issued over the weekend and will expire after Monday, said the onset of the storm passing over Earth on Sunday night represented a «moderate» threat to communications. As the storm continues to pass through, it could deliver a «strong» threat on Monday night that could cause radio communications to be temporarily disrupted during the worst of it.
Even so, NOAA said, «the general public should not be concerned.»
A coronal mass ejection occurs when magnetic field and plasma mass are violently expelled from the sun’s corona, or the outermost portion of the sun’s atmosphere. In the vast majority of cases, the ejection occurs with no real threat to Earth. However, in the event the ejection happens in the planet’s direction, a geomagnetic storm occurs, and the Earth’s magnetic field is temporarily affected.
In most cases, geomagnetic storms cause little to no disruption on Earth, with radio communications and satellites affected most often. In extreme cases, a geomagnetic storm can cause significant and potentially life-threatening power outages — a prospect that, luckily, the planet hasn’t faced.
Switching poles
Every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic poles switch, with the north pole and south pole swapping positions. During those cycles, the sun’s activity ramps up as it gets closer to pole-switching time. The height of its activity is called solar maximum, and scientists believe we either may be entering the solar maximum or may be already in it.
During periods of heightened solar activity, sunspots increase on the sun and there’s an increase in coronal mass ejections, among other phenomena. According to NOAA, solar maximum could extend into October of this year before the sun’s activity calms and it works towards its less-active phase, solar minimum.
Even when geomagnetic storms hit Earth and disrupt communications, the effects are usually short-lived. Those most affected, including power grid operators and pilots and air traffic controllers communicating over long distances, have fail-safe technologies and backup communications to ensure operational continuity.
But geomagnetic storms aren’t only about radios. In most cases, they also present unique opportunities to see auroras in the night sky. When the storms hit, the plasma they carry creates a jaw-dropping aurora, illuminating the night sky with brilliant colors. Those auroras can be especially pronounced during the most intense phases of the storm, making for nice stargazing.
If you’re interested in seeing the aurora, you’ll need to be ready. The NOAA said the «brunt of the storm has passed» and even if it lingers into Tuesday, there won’t be much to see after Monday night.
Technologies
Last Total Solar Eclipse for 20 Years Is Coming: How to See and Photograph It
It’s your last chance until 2044.
Get your eclipse glasses ready, Skygazers: the Great American Eclipse is on its way. On April 8, there’ll be a total eclipse over North America, the last one until 2044.
A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun and turning an otherwise sunny day to darkness for a short period of time. Depending on the angle at which you’re viewing the eclipse, you may see the sun completely shrouded by the moon (called totality) or some variation of it. The more off-angle you are and the further you are from the path of the eclipse, the less likely you’ll be to see the totality.
The 2024 total solar eclipse will happen on Monday, April 8. The Great American Eclipse will reach the Mexican Pacific coast at 11:07 a.m. PT (2:07 p.m. ET), and then traverse the US in a northeasterly direction from Texas to Maine, and on into easternmost Canada. If you want a good look at it, but don’t live in the path of totality, you shouldn’t wait much longer to book accommodation and travel to a spot on the path.
Or how about booking a seat in the sky? Delta Airlines made headlines for offering a flight that allows you to see the entire path of totality. Its first eclipse flight, from Austin, Texas, to Detroit sold out quickly. But as of Monday, Delta has added a second flight from Dallas to Detroit, which also covers the path of totality. The airline also has five flights that will offer prime eclipse viewing.
Not everyone can get on one of those elusive eclipse-viewing flights. Here’s a look at other options to nab a chance to see this rare sight and what to know about it.
Total solar eclipse path
The eclipse will cross over the Pacific coast of Mexico and head northeast over mainland Mexico. The eclipse will then make its way over San Antonio at approximately 2:30 p.m. ET on April 8 and move through Texas, over the southeastern part of Oklahoma and northern Arkansas by 2:50 p.m. ET.
By 3 p.m. ET, the eclipse will be over southern Illinois, and just 5 minutes later, will be traveling over Indianapolis. Folks in northwestern Ohio will be treated to the eclipse by 3:15 p.m. ET, and it will then travel over Lake Erie and Buffalo, New York, by 3:20 p.m. ET. Over the next 10 minutes, the eclipse will be seen over northern New York state, then over Vermont. By 3:35 p.m. ET, the eclipse will work its way into Canada and off the Eastern coast of North America.
Best places to watch the Great American Eclipse
When evaluating the best places to watch this year’s total eclipse, you’ll first want to determine where you’ll have the best angle to see the totality. The farther off-angle you are — in other words, the farther north or south of the eclipse’s path — the less of an impact you can expect.
Therefore, if you want to have the best chance of experiencing the eclipse, you’ll want to be in its path. As of this writing, most of the cities in the eclipse’s path have some hotel availability, but recent reports have suggested that rooms are booking up. And as more rooms are booked, prices are going up.
So if you want to be in the eclipse’s path, and need a hotel to do it, move fast. And Delta’s eclipse-viewing flight from Dallas to Detroit has just four seats left at the time of publication.
Eclipse eye safety and photography
As with any solar eclipse, it’s critical you keep eye safety in mind.
During the eclipse, and especially during the periods before and after totality, don’t look directly at the sun without special eye protection. Also, be sure not to look at the sun through a camera (including the camera on your phone), binoculars, a telescope or any other viewing device. This could cause serious eye injury. Sunglasses aren’t enough to protect your eyes from damage.
If you want to view the eclipse, you’ll instead need solar viewing glasses that comply with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard. Anything that doesn’t meet that standard or greater won’t be dark enough to protect your eyes. Want to get them for free? If you’ve got a Warby Parker eyeglasses store nearby, the company is giving away free, ISO-certified solar eclipse glasses at all of its stores from April 1 until the eclipse, while supplies last.
If you don’t have eclipse viewing glasses handy, you can instead use indirect methods for viewing the eclipse, like a pinhole projector.
Read more: A Photographer’s Adventure With the Eclipse
In the event you want to take pictures of the eclipse, attach a certified solar filter to your camera. Doing so will protect your eyes and allow you to take photos while you view the eclipse through your lens.
There’s also a new app to help you both protect your eyes and take better photos of the eclipse on your phone. Solar Snap, designed by a former Hubble Space Telescope astronomer, comes with a Solar Snap camera filter that attaches to the back of an iPhone or Android phone, along with solar eclipse glasses for protecting your eyesight during the event. After you attach the filter to your phone, you can use the free Solar Snap Eclipse app to zoom in on the eclipse, adjust exposure and other camera settings, and ultimately take better shots of the eclipse.
2024 eclipse compared to 2017
The last total solar eclipse occurred in 2017, and many Americans had a great view. Although there are plenty of similarities between the 2017 total solar eclipse and the one coming April 8, there are a handful of differences. Mainly, the 2024 eclipse is going to cover more land and last longer.
The 2017 eclipse started over the northwest US and moved southeast. Additionally, that eclipse’s path was up to 71 miles wide, compared with a maximum width of 122 miles for this year’s eclipse. Perhaps most importantly, the moon completely covered the sun for just 2 minutes, 40 seconds in 2017. This year, maximum totality will last for nearly four-and-a-half minutes.
Technologies
Wild Weather Ahead: Here’s How 2024 Is Shaping Up After the Hottest Year on Record
The climate crisis is impacting communities around the world. Here’s what to know about dealing with extreme weather in 2024.
We just lived through the hottest year since recordkeeping began more than a century ago, but before too long when we look back at 2023, it might not stand out as the pinnacle of extreme heat.
That’s because it’s unlikely to be the only hottest year that we experience. Our climate is changing, growing warmer due to the emissions from burning fossil fuels, and our weather is changing with it. It’s possible that this year may turn out to be hotter still.
In March, scientists from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said February 2024 was the hottest February according to records that stretch back to 1940. The news came on the heels of their report in early January that, as expected, 2023 was indeed the hottest year on record. Temperatures closed in on the critical 1.5-degree Celsius rise above preindustrial levels, after which we will see irreversible damage to the planet. These aren’t freak outliers: The extreme heat we’re experiencing is something we’ll need to be prepared to deal with on a much more regular basis, along with storms, floods and drought.
Later in March, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued its spring outlook, predicting that most of the continental US and Alaska will see above-average temperatures from April through June. The risk of flooding, it said, will ease during the three-month period because of «historically low winter snow cover» in large parts of the country.
A key trend highlighted by the US government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment, published in November, was that climate change is provoking extreme weather events across the country that are both more frequent and more severe. It pointed to an increase in heatwaves and wildfires in the West over the past few decades, the increased drought risk in the Southwest over the past century and more extreme rainfall east of the Rockies. Hurricanes have also been intensifying, as those who have found themselves in the path of a storm know all too well.
You’ll need to be prepared. Extreme weather is going to have a widespread impact on industry, society and individuals. Last year in the US there were 25 extreme weather events with losses amounting to over $1 billion that resulted in the deaths of 464 people. People lost their homes, saw personal property damaged or suffered mental and physical health issues.
Three months into 2024, we’re staring down the barrel of another potentially record-setting hot year. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the US is now better prepared than ever and we know what steps you can take to better deal with these unwelcome events. When it comes to weather, forewarned is forearmed.
The US has been taking active steps. The Biden administration has provided funding to build resilient communities, and a new (as of September 2023) National Climate Resilience Framework, which should provide the US with a whole range of protections. These include conserving water resources, modernizing and strengthening the electric grid against weather and disasters and building infrastructure to protect communities and ecosystems from sea level rise, tidal flooding, hurricanes and storm surges.
At home and in your community, you can take steps, too, including preparing your home for wildfires and flooding and recognizing signs of heat-related health issues. This way, when wild weather comes calling, its impact on our homes, health and livelihoods is minimized.
Forecast 2024
Last year’s heat was no anomaly. It’s part of a long-term trend: The last 10 years have been the 10 warmest on record, according to NASA, with most of the Earth’s warming taking place over the last 40 years. Most forecasters are anticipating yet another year of extreme heat ahead.
«If we look at the forecast for the next three months in the long range, it’s suggesting that the trend that we’re seeing in baseline warming could continue, and so 2024 could rival 2023 for being the hottest year on record, which is very scary,» says Chloe Brimicombe, a heatwave researcher at the University of Graz.
Some of the extreme weather we experienced in the latter half of last year and will continue to experience in the first half of this year is a result of El Niño, a cyclical climate event that sees unusually warm ocean waters that has a knock-on effect of warmer temperatures and increased rainfall across the southern part of the US. For instance, temperatures in Death Valley, California, peaked at 128 degrees Fahrenheit in July, while forecasters predicted warmer temperatures in northern parts of the US stretching into February and a colder, wetter winter for Southern states.
While meteorologists are able to make long-term predictions about El Niño, other climate-related predictions are trickier. «All things told, we’re going to see an increased prevalence of heat events across the globe, but we can’t tell right now exactly where that will be,» says Andy Hoell, a climate scientist at NOAA.
What we do know, he adds, is that the climate crisis can compound events such as extreme heat or extreme rainfall to make them more likely or more severe.
In the past, it wasn’t always easy to draw direct links between extreme weather events and climate change. But huge improvements in attribution science (the ability to specifically identify emissions as the cause for unusually dramatic weather) in recent years have changed the game. The World Weather Attribution program, based at Imperial College London, has now completed nine studies on droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and heavy rainfall in North America. «Every study found that climate change made the event more intense and more likely,» says Ben Clarke, a researcher at WWA.
The speed at which climate scientists are able to identify human-caused climate change as the culprit for extreme weather has also dramatically improved. Last year alone, Climate Central was able to attribute record-breaking spring heat in the western US, and ongoing extreme heat stretching through the summer in Texas and Florida, to climate change as it was happening. «It’s much more impactful as far as our understanding of what climate change really is if we can make that connection in real time,» says Andrew Pershing, vice president of science at Climate Central, a climate science analysis non-profit.
Thanks to attribution science, we can confidently point to a heatwave we’ve experienced and say whether climate change played a role in making it happen. But it also helps us to recognize that extreme weather events we’re experiencing are part of a pattern – one that can’t be broken without tackling the root causes of the climate crisis. «Until the world moves away from fossil fuels and reduces emissions to net zero,» says Clarke, «extreme weather events in North America will continue to become more intense, more dangerous and more deadly.»
Even if you live in a region that hasn’t yet directly been impacted by a climate-linked weather event, you’re not off the hook.
«As the climate continues to warm, most areas will be at an increased risk of some types of climate-linked extreme weather,» says Russell Vose, chief of the Monitoring and Assessment Branch at NOAA’ National Centers for Environmental Information and one of the NCA’s authors. «Perhaps the best example is extreme heat – it can occur anywhere.»
He points to the scorching heat dome that descended on the Pacific Northwest in June and July 2021, which was unprecedented in the historical record. The unpredictable nature of such extreme heat means no regions are marked as safe.
In fact, a region that’s been lucky enough to not yet experience an extreme heat event is more likely to experience one in the future and suffer more greatly due to lack of preparedness, according to a study published by scientists from Bristol University last April.
Scientists are more concerned about the ability of people in areas that don’t usually get intensely hot to cope when their turn comes. «What worries me would be something in the Upper Midwest or the Northeast that just hasn’t had a major heat event for a few years,» says Pershing. «I think we kind of lose a little bit of that muscle memory.»
Weather’s unequal impacts
The weather might not discriminate when it comes to who gets hit, but that doesn’t mean its impacts are experienced equally by all groups across American society.
«Certain groups are simply more vulnerable to extreme events due to geographic, socioeconomic or demographic factors,» says Vose. He points to the extreme rainfall brought by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which led to a large number of homes being flooded in Harris County, Texas, with a disproportionate impact on low-income Hispanic neighborhoods.
When a heatwave hits, it will feel hotter in high-density urban environments that are more likely to be occupied by people of color or people living in poverty than in more spread-out neighborhoods or rural areas. Then some are homeless and can’t access health care. They have little ability to protect themselves, no matter how much warning they get about an incoming heatwave. This makes these groups much more vulnerable to the health risks of extreme heat.
Heat researchers are extremely concerned about people who live in housing not resistant to warm temperatures, says Brimicombe, who points out that those who rent are especially at risk. «If you’re a tenant, you have less ability to adapt your house to extreme heat than if you’re a homeowner,» she says. «And that also means young families, because babies are vulnerable to extreme heat.»
Not only are economically disadvantaged communities in the US more susceptible to feeling the worst impacts of extreme weather, but they have also done the least to contribute towards the climate crisis in the first place. A study published last August revealed that the wealthiest households in the US are historically responsible for 40% of the country’s climate emissions.
Meanwhile, these same households have more tools at their disposal to protect themselves from the impact of climate-related weather events. In 2019, The New York Times reported that wealthy California residents were banding together to hire private firefighters to protect them from the impacts of wildfires.
The Biden administration is well aware that marginalized and minority groups are hardest hit by climate change, including extreme weather. At the beginning of his term, the president set up the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, made up of leading experts from the US climate justice community.
Last September the group published its policy recommendations urging the government to ensure climate disasters do not further or exacerbate harm to vulnerable populations and communities.
«Disaster relief should never be the cause of deepening inequality in any neighborhood, region, or Tribal community,» the council wrote in its recommendations. «When disaster hits, the goal of government should be that the people hit the hardest should emerge stronger and more secure than before, not the opposite.»
It recommended a number of measures that would help protect people in case of extreme weather including the creation of a low-cost national flood insurance and the establishment of a «Just Relocation Fund» that would provide communities hit by climate impacts with a relocation process based on a dignity framework with respect for their human rights.
The White House has yet to respond to the recommendations, but if it does act on them this would hopefully prevent a repeat of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in which Black communities were allocated less money to rebuild their housing, resulting in a lawsuit against the federal government.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other initiatives, the Biden administration is investing heavily in adaptation, mitigation and resilience measures designed to protect all Americans from the impacts of climate-linked extreme weather. As with all funding, people may have to wait some time to feel the full impact of that funding. In the meantime, there are a number of steps you can take to keep yourself safe in the months ahead.
How to weather the weather, whatever the weather
Summer’s not so far off, meaning sizzling days are on the horizon.
Intense heat poses some scary risks to our health, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be life-threatening. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the signs so that you’ll recognize them in yourself and others, and can therefore seek medical attention if necessary.
Remember that heat is more likely to adversely affect older people, children and babies, and those with preexisting health conditions. There may be cooling centers or other well-air-conditioned places in your community where you can take refuge – if you do, consider taking elderly or vulnerable neighbors with you. «Look out for friends and families,» said Brimicombe. «Don’t be complacent.»
The British writer and fellwalker Alfred Wainwright is widely credited as coining the phrase, «there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.» Wainwright, who died in 1991, didn’t live through the kind of consistently bad weather we’re experiencing in this era of extreme heat, but that doesn’t mean we have nothing to learn from him. In the midst of a heatwave, it’s best to wear loose-fitting clothes in light colors, rather than black, which absorbs the heat.
Make sure you stay hydrated and try to spend as little time as possible outside in the sun. Try to block sunlight from warming your house, and consider buying reflectors to place in your windows that can help keep the heat out. At nighttime, take note of when it might be cooler outside than in, and use this to your advantage by opening doors and windows to let the internal temperature of your house regulate. Fans can be effective, but at very high temperatures they’re likely to just start pushing the hot air around – in which case you should, sparingly and without putting too much pressure on the grid, resort to air conditioning, or moving to your local cooling center.
Remember that global warming is worldwide, so the same heat warnings apply even if you plan to travel to other parts of the world over the summer. The heat waves that hit the US in the summer of 2023 also impacted areas of Europe, including popular vacation spots in the Mediterranean. Countries including Greece, Spain and Italy were all affected by wildfires that resulted in the evacuation of locals and tourists alike from some areas and islands.
The surge in Europe-bound American tourists that occurred in 2023 is expected to continue this year, but if you’re planning to be among them it’s important not to travel without comprehensive insurance. Likewise, if you’re traveling in the peak months of July and August, be prepared to adjust your itinerary in case of extreme heat to ensure you’re not putting your health at risk. This may mean spending more time indoors than you’d planned for the sake of your health.
For other types of extreme weather that may hit your property such as wildfires, storms or floods, it may be useful to have an evacuation plan. You should prepare an emergency evacuation bag, also known as a go bag or a bug-out bag. Don’t forget to plan for your pets. The National Fire Protection Association has a handy guide on how to prepare your home for wildfires.
One of the easiest but most important things you can do is keep an eye on long- and short-term weather forecasts. The silver lining for people in the US, says Pershing, is that the country has great weather forecasting capabilities and the channels to communicate incoming events to people so you can prepare. «The gaps are really whether you take it seriously yourself,» he says.
So for anyone who does take it seriously, be sure to read our tips on how to prepare yourself and your home for wildfires, hurricanes, floods and storms.
Here are some additional resources:
- Natural Disaster Guide: How to Prep for Wildfires, Hurricanes, Storms and More
- Flood Insurance: What It Costs and What It Covers
- Pet Disaster Prep: Take These Steps to Keep Your Pets Safe
- Emergency Prep: 3 Tips to Recover Important Documents
- 16 Emergency Apps for Wildfires, Earthquakes and Other Disasters
- Wildfire Season Is Here: Prepare Your Emergency Evacuation Bag Now
- Climate Change Is Intensifying Severe Weather. Take These 4 Steps to Fortify Your Home
For even more details on natural disasters and how to prepare beforehand or respond after an event takes place, check out https://www.ready.gov/.
Correction, March 15: This story originally misstated the name of the National Fire Protection Association.
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