School districts in U.S. race to invest in cooling solutions as classrooms and playgrounds heat up

Oh, that's no way to treat Mother Nature. I have on best authority (MAGA newsletter) that when She's done everything will be ducky. In the meantime, what's a few kids, more or less.

I never had a school with ac until high school, and that was only because it was a new school only three years old. My elementary and junior high schools had classrooms with very tall ceilings, ceiling fans and big transom windows near the ceiling that opened inward. The teacher had to use a long pole to open them.

What is different now is the start and stop dates of the semesters. We used to start school in September, have a Christmas break and then come back to school to complete the first semester. It was late January or early February when the second semester started and school ended mid June before it got really hot.

At some point a decision was made not to break up that fall semester with a Christmas break but rather start school earlier in the year so the fall semester was complete by the Christmas break. The Spring semester would begin the first week of January and finish in May. This matched the semesters at some state colleges. I think the more humane move would be to push back the start of school back into September with school getting out for the summer in June and accept that the Fall Semester will be broken up by Christmas break.

East of Los Angeles, roofs across the Chaffey Joint Union High School District once reached 140 F (60 C).

This will happen more and more, as our planet warms up rapidly due to the greenhouse effect. And it will not stop at 60 C.

East of Los Angeles, roofs across the Chaffey Joint Union High School District once reached 140 F (60 C).

This will happen more and more, as our planet warms up rapidly due to the greenhouse effect. And it will not stop at 60 C.

LA has always been hot in the summer. Daytime temps of 43-46 C are not uncommon. Weeks of temps upwards of 38-40 C are the norm. Black asphalt roofs in those conditions can easily 60C. The same is true of road surfaces. Even decades ago I can recall days riding a motorcycle in LA on a 43 C day experiencing burned legs under trousers from the combined heat of the roadway and the engine.

I can recall days riding a motorcycle in LA on a 43 C day experiencing burned legs

The LaTimes says: "In Los Angeles, average maximum temperatures are expected to increase by as much as 5 degrees by midcentury, along with an increase in extreme temperatures and extreme heat days, according to the state’s most recent climate change assessment."