Cities can do more to prepare for extreme heat events, and they must. Or else the death toll will continue to climb.
Like Ernest Hemingway once said about bankruptcy, the climate emergency arrives gradually — and then suddenly. For 30 years, neoliberal governments of various shades have kicked the can down the road. We’re now at the end of the road.
The world needs to step up preparations for extreme heat, which may be hitting faster and harder than previously forecast, a group of leading climate scientists have warned in the wake of freakishly high temperatures in Canada and the US.
Five days after wildfire destroyed the town of Lytton in British Columbia killing two people and injuring several others, officials were still trying to account for some residents who were missing. No one apparently saw the fire coming. When they saw smoke, according to Mayor Jan Polderman, it took all of 15 minutes before the whole town was ablaze.
The unprecedented heatwave in the Pacific north-west risks becoming the new normal if we don’t act now
On Sunday, the small mountain town of Lytton, British Columbia, became one of the hottest places in the world. Then, on Monday, Lytton got even hotter – 47.9C (118F) – hotter than it’s ever been in Las Vegas, 1,300 miles to the south. And by Tuesday, 49.6C (121F).
