Badlands National Park in South Dakota was in the middle of heatwave when a couple of rangers decided to put an age old question to the test. Can you bake cookies in a car on a hot summer’s day? Their experiment was good fun but it illustrates a very serious issue and want echo their message.
Children in hot cars are a deadly combination and it doesn’t take a scorcher for the interior temperatures of vehicles to become lethal. On an 80-degree day, temperatures inside a vehicle can reach deadly levels in just 10 minutes. Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time and make it a habit to check your entire vehicle (especially the back seat) before locking the doors and walking away.
- A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s. When a child is left in a vehicle, that child’s temperature can rise quickly and the situation can quickly become dangerous.
- Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees.
- A child can die when their body temperature reaches 107 degrees.
- In 2023, 29 children died of heatstroke in vehicles.
- In 2018 and 2019, we saw a record number of hot car deaths — 53 children died each year — the most in at least 25 years, according to NoHeatstroke.org.
Badland National Park:
It’s been over a hundred degrees at Badlands for the last few days, so the rangers decided to make the best of it by testing a classic hypothesis – can you bake cookies in your car on a hot summer day?
And much to the rangers’ surprise, not only did the cookies bake, they also cooked completely through AND had justttt the right amount of gooey goodness in the center – total, yummy perfection! I guess we’re just good like that 
-Remember, cars can get extremely hot on sunny days with high temperatures because glass reflects infrared radiation inside the vehicle allowing for more heat from the sunlight to be trapped inside (just like a greenhouse!).
-So PLEASE be mindful of any pets you bring on your trips to places that aren’t supper pet friendly (like national parks unfortunately – it’s a safety concern for pets, our wildlife, and visitors) and try to limit the time inside vehicles. If we can bake cookies in a hot car, NO animal should be sitting in those conditions.
-Be mindful of yourself while you’re out exploring the park on hot days too! Drink plenty of water, eat salty snacks, and take lots of breaks if you’re out hiking.
