Sacramento’s temperatures cracked 100 degrees 49 times in 2024 — more than twice as frequently as a normal year. It’s only March, and we’re already experiencing a potentially record-breaking heatwave.
For my high school in Folsom, extreme heat has meant making impossible choices about basic activities. My cross-country team had to decide whether to risk heat exhaustion at afternoon practice or wake up early for a 6 a.m. practice and run before school. We chose the early mornings, which meant that I woke up before dawn from August until October.
As temperatures increase with climate change, difficult decisions are becoming a new normal for California schools…