Climate-change life means 74-year-old retirees wake up hours earlier to beat the heat: ‘As soon as you walk outside, you’re already sweating’

Alexa St. John

Fortune

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06.08.2026

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Climate-change life means 74-year-old retirees wake up hours earlier to beat the heat: ‘As soon as you walk outside, you’re already sweating’

Elisa Bracamonte has lived in Arizona her whole life, so she’s used to adjusting her schedule and outdoor activities around high temperatures, especially during the summer months.

But the 74-year-old retired nurse from Tucson said she feels the heat has been impacting more of her day-to-day: summer plans with family members across the region, meetups with friends, road trips and her daily morning walk routine.

“I’ve noticed at least a 10 degree difference in the weather,” Bracamonte said. “Every summer, it seems to be getting hotter and hotter.”

Like Bracamonte, Americans are increasingly feeling a personal impact from extreme heat, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

According to the survey, U.S. adults are more likely to say extreme heat has had either a “major impact” or “minor impact” on their travel or vacation plans, electricity bills, their sleep, their family’s outdoor activities and more parts of their day-to-day life than in July 2024.

Much of that........

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Climate-change life means 74-year-old retirees wake up hours earlier to beat the heat: ‘As soon as you walk outside, you’re already sweating’

Alexa St. John

© Fortune