Summer time and vacations are not easy. Blame it on climate change

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Climate change is already making forest fires, hurricanes, heat waves and droughts more frequent and intense. The devastating effects regularly make the headlines.

Global warming is also changing lives in more subtle ways. NPR asked how more extreme weather conditions are affecting summer plans.

For Maryland graduate student A. Carey, 24, summer means heading to the Bahamas for Emancipation Day, which was commemorated this year on August 2. The holiday celebrates the end of slavery and includes music, dancing and a parade.

“You just hear that muffled drumbeat, like a heartbeat, coming out of the distance and you hear that gradual brassy boom,” says Carey, recalling the parades of a lifetime spent visiting Eleuthera Island to see his family.

Carey says saving and planning that trip every summer is a changing tradition.

“I need to be a lot more aware of my travels,” says Carey. “I have to think about travel insurance. What is my plan b, plan c to return to the United States if it is hit by a hurricane? ”

And Carey notices that there is now a lot more talk in the Bahamas about the rising waters and what that will mean for the future.

“The smell of dead fish is very strong”

In Tampa, Florida, Sara Brogan says summers are getting hotter. Going to the beach to cool off is a decades-long tradition for your family.

“We went to the beach once this summer,” says Brogan.

It is because of the “red tide”. These algal blooms are on the increase, possibly due to human pollution and warming temperatures. They produce toxins that kill marine life, which is why Brogan stays away from the beach.

“The smell of dead fish is very strong,” she says.

Octavio Jones / Getty Images

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Thousands of dead fish float in Boca Ciega Bay near the mouth of Madeira Beach on July 21 in Madeira Beach, Florida. The red tide, which is formed by a type of bacteria, has killed several tons of marine life in Florida so far. year. People with respiratory problems warned to stay away from red tide areas

Health officials say people with respiratory problems like asthma should stay away from red tide areas. Brogran, a registered nurse, 45, says her family doesn’t have chronic breathing problems, but it’s still uncomfortable.

“For us it would be like a simple tickle in the throat or all of a sudden you have to clear your throat more or you cough a bit,” she says.

Brogan canceled plans to rent a pontoon boat for Father’s Day to go fishing. She still hopes to get to the beach before the hurricane season gets intense.

Further north, Cape Cod’s freshwater ponds are also experiencing more toxic algal blooms, and authorities have closed some areas to swimming.

On the West Coast, Valerie Christensen, 62, says a heat wave interrupted her plans to participate in summer dog shows. She lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. His show dog is a Border Terrier named “Henry”.

Valerie Christensen turned down a dog show this summer because it was 114 degrees outside. Here she is with Henry the Border Terrier at the Cooler Hurricane Ridge Dog Show in Sequim, Wash. On July 31. “It’s not good for the animal and it’s not good for me either”

“It doesn’t like heat. I don’t know of any terrier that likes heat. They kind of fade when it comes to 75 and over,” says Christensen.

She canceled her plans to attend the Clackamas Kennel Club show in Oregon in June because it was a record 113.7 degrees. Now she is looking for summer shows in cooler places and away from the smoke of wildfires.

“Obviously that’s not good for the animal and it’s not good for me either because you spend pretty much a whole weekend sometimes up to four days outside,” says- she.

Climate-fueled wildfires also mean more smoke in special places.

Heather Duchow, 47, and her husband celebrated their 20th birthday last month in Glacier National Park in Montana, where they also spent their honeymoon. She is an amateur photographer and loves to capture the awesome views.

“When we got there it was very smoky and it was disappointing. You can’t see the distant views the park is known for,” she says. “Everything that should have been green, white and blue was very orange and brown.”

Duchow says that for future birthdays, they could go earlier in the summer, hoping to avoid the worst of the fire season.

“There are clearly much worse consequences for forest fires,” she says. “We are thinking of those who have lost homes or loved ones due to climatic events such as fire or flood.”

Yet the way Duchow, and everyone else, navigate a warming world is changing. And people are wondering how to adapt.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To learn more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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