Good weather to be outside
With the holiday weekend upon us, and after all the cool, damp, rainy, weather of the past months, folks are anxious to be outside. This weekend are warm enough to enjoy the outdoors as temperatures even accommodate a dip in the backyard pool. Streams and lakes are still on the cool side as water takes a bit longer to warm, but for the hardy, a good dip will be refreshing. New CDC guidelines suggest that swimming in chlorinated pools should be safe, but they still urge caution and proper maintaining of social distances even in the water.
The fresh air that we will be breathing this holiday should also be more beneficial than usual as it will be cleaner. The Herald-Standard had an article a few days ago reporting that carbon pollution since the pandemic has decreased by 17% across our planet and may be the cleanest since the second world war in the 1940s. The first week of April saw a reduction of over 19 million tons of carbon pollution as compared with the first week of January. Of course, it will go back up and has already started inching upward, but seeing our cities smog free shows that we need to look at this issue as we get back to work and living our lives.
Another interesting article this week in the Washington Post discusses the possibility that summer heat may play a role in helping reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus but not in stopping it. New research that summer’s heat, humidity and abundant sunshine, along with folks getting outside should combine to help with the stunt the spread of the virus, but again not to halt the disease. Infectious disease experts caution that any benefit could quickly be lost if people mistakenly believe the virus can’t spread in warm weather and abandon efforts that help limit infections such as social distancing.
Harvard medical researchers have found a reduction of virus transmissions when the average temperatures are above 77 degrees. The key word here is average and it must be remembered that many South American countries are having rapid spread of the virus even with their average warm temperatures. A Princeton study shows that when a lack of immunity exists, the disease can overwhelm and temper the influence of the heat from the sun.
A lot is being studied and written about the disease and it should be remembered that a lot of this is research and still needs time to prove itself. More will be revealed to us in the coming days, weeks and months and the key word and practice in all of this is caution to follow what we do know, such as the distancing and proper protection and to not put ourselves or others in risky situations as we begin to enjoy the outdoors.
Temperatures for the last week of May average 74 degrees for the afternoon high and 53 for the morning low. We are expecting temperatures to average a bit above normal for a change and rainfall to be a little less. Hope you are enjoying the holiday and the nice weather. BE SAFE!