By Mary O’KEEFE

Whether you are on land or sea, it is hot. On land in June and (as of press time) in July there were seven deaths in U.S. national parks that were apparently due to heat. Although several of the recent deaths are still under investigation all died in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

These deaths include people from Texas to California and from ages ranging from 14 to 71. Steve Curry, 71, from Sunland had hiked Death Valley and, according to reports, died just outside of the restroom on the Golden Canyon trailhead. Temperatures were recorded at 121 degrees. He was an experienced hiker. And, according to the National Park Service, the month that sees the most heat-related deaths is in August, so the worst may be yet to come.

In the sea in June, tens of thousands of fish washed up onto the shore of the Texas Gulf Coast. Low levels of oxygen in the water are likely to blame, according to wildlife officials.

The dead fish covered the sand in Brazoria County south of Houston on June 14. This happens when temperatures increase and water cannot hold as much oxygen. If a school of fish was swimming in the shallow water when temperatures rose above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it may have found itself in “big trouble,” according to a post on social media reported in Smithsonian Magazine.

In another post, officials confirmed, “the cause was low-dissolved oxygen.”

Although the sight of thousands of dead fish to me looks like a biblical sign, according to NOAA there may be a glass half full kind of thing going on. Most of the dead fish were menhaden, which travel in large schools. These are fish food to many predators, including birds, sharks and sea trout, according to NOAA.

Because this species is a popular snack for sea animals, there are potential benefits to the massive die-off, according to Katie St. Clair, manager of the sea life facility at Texas A&M University at Galveston, as reported by NPR.

“The flip-side is that with this die-off of fish there is a huge nutrient pulse into our environment,” St. Clair said.

While these types of die-offs are common in warmer months as oceans heat up due to human-caused climate change they could happen more often … and the benefits will be fewer.

“Water can only hold so much oxygen at certain temperatures, and certainly we know that seawater temperatures are rising,” St. Clair said. “It is concerning and something that needs to be monitored.”

But we have known this for some time. I was reminded of that when my 33-year-old son posted a retro cartoon that had made an impression on him when he was younger and how his son now watches it: “Captain Planet and the Planeteers.”

As a Mother Earth-loving parent I was thrilled to find this cartoon and its message that all of us have a responsibility to save the planet.

For those who are not familiar with this series, “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” ran from 1990 to 1996 and was adapted from an idea by Ted Turner and Robert Larkin III. It was an environmentally responsible cartoon in which five young people from throughout the world were each given a power of the elements.

The opening begins, “Our world is in peril. Gi, the spirit of the Earth, can no longer stand the terrible destruction plaguing our planet. She sends five magic rings to five special young people: Kwame from Africa with the power of Earth, from North America, Wheeler with the power of fire, from the Soviet Union (later changed to Eastern Europe) Linka with the power of wind, from Asia, Gi with the power of water, and from South America Ma-Ti with the power of heart. When the five powers combine, they summon Earth’s greatest champion, Captain Planet. Go Planet. The power is yours.”

That last sentence – “The power is yours” – is the most important. I made certain to teach my kids that they had the power to make a difference and to protect the planet.

We had the T-shirts and the action figures. We read the books on “global warming” and climate change. We cleaned the beaches … a lot.

Since my son’s post I decided to watch the cartoon again to see if I still loved it as a grandma as much as I did as a young mom … and I do.

It’s not great animation but the lessons taught go beyond the glitchy drawings. In the episode “Heat Wave,” Dr. Barbara “Babs” Blight was really set on causing environmental havoc. Now Dr. Blight does not have a lot of backstory, she just seems to want world domination and she doesn’t care what she has to do to get it. In “Heat Wave” she fills the ocean with oil and puts a dome over the Island of Hope – basically the center of the environment world that Gi oversees. Everything under the dome heats up even faster as she pumps more carbon dioxide into it. As the island heats up, Gi becomes weaker. Unfortunately only four of the powers can gather (Linka was captured by Dr. Blight) so they cannot combine to call for Captain Planet.

Things go from bad to worse as the spirit of the Earth falls to the heat, sea creatures begin to die as the ocean heats up and the Planeteers cannot break through the dome barrier. Then, to make matters worse, after heating up the ocean and killing creatures, Dr. Blight has a “surprise” weapon. She drags an iceberg into the dome and as it melts the water around the Island of Hope begins to rise. But because the dome had to open for the iceberg to get in, the clever young Planeteers were able to sneak out of the dome, unite with Linka and call for Captain Planet. He is also weak but with the help of the Sun he is able to stop Dr. Blight’s ship of oil spills. Then with the help of a whale they are able to break the dome and release some of the heat. That is when the cleanup begins.

“What about all the carbon dioxide pollution Dr. Blight released into the air?” asked Gi.

And here is the honesty I loved about this show.

“I can’t undo all of that, and around the world more is added every day,” said Capt. Planet. “That is why it is so important to burn less of those fuels that pollute the atmosphere and make Earth hotter.”

“Can people stop this?” Gi asked.

“We must,” said Capt. Planet. “The power is yours.”

Our temperatures since July 13 have been about 10 degrees higher than normal and that trend will remain making the rest of the week and weekend hot.

Today will see a high near 96 degrees and on Friday it will be around 97, but then a little lower on Saturday – 94 – and Sunday 93. From Monday to Thursday our temperatures will be nearer to normal, which means they will drop about five to 10 degrees.

The heat is due to an abnormally strong high pressure over New Mexico, according to NOAA.