I've been wondering lately - and it no longer sounds as far fetched as it might have once - what if one fine day soon somewhere in the US the temperature should hit 140F? Temperatures close to that occur in some parts of the world with some regularity.

It's a given that many people would die. Presumably it would mean that a broad band of geography would reach superrecord temperatures that same day. That would probably mean that hundreds, maybe thousands, of people would die from heat-related causes in a swath across the country.

Any time that temperatures reach record levels, there is greater use of air conditioners. The greater the use of electricity the more vulnerable an area is to power failure. In some parts of the US already, sustaining life is barely possible without artifical means.

Does that mean that only the affluent - those people with swimming pools or homes on the beach or on rivers would survive handily?

Does that mean that the best way for the poor to ride out a season is to burrow into the ground? There may be new uses for fall out shelters...