The U.S. Pacific Northwest has blasted through heat records this week, with normally mild cities like Portland and Seattle facing sweltering highs of 116 and 108 degrees Fahrenheit (46C and 42C) Monday - a deadly threat in a region where such extreme heat is unprecedented and few have adequate cooling.

But heatwaves - in regions that don't expect them - aren't the only surging risk climate change is bringing.

Around the world, low-lying communities - particularly on coastlines - need to begin planning now for "managed retreat" from homes, cities and farmland that will be impossible to defend with an expected metre - or far more - of sea level rise this century, scientists say.

The good news? Whether families opt for floating homes or new ones inland, coming moves present opportunities to address historical inequities and ensure that protecting communities - rather than just cutting economic losses - is a top priority, they say.

"Too often adaptation is trying to keep the world the way it is when we should be trying to make it better," argued A.R. Siders, a University of Delaware specialist in managed retreat.

Farming is also coming under growing pressure from climate impacts, from droughts and floods to heatwaves.

A hotter planet is weakening age-old and long-sustainable indigenous food systems, experts warn, as well as traditional water-powered grain mills in Kashmir, as drought forces a switch in the grains grown.

A lack of preparation for changing conditions also threatens the world's $12-billion cotton industry, which could lead to shortages, higher prices and financial woes for both growers and the millions of workers who make cotton products for a living.

Coping with the new risks will require not just minor adjustments in farming but "transformative adaptation" in some places - things like shifting to entirely new crops or types of livestock, or farming with far less water and using protective structures to ward off new pests and other threats, say World Resources Institute researchers.

But the real transformation needed is a plunge in the use of fossil fuels, which still make up 80% of the world's energy supply despite years of efforts to reduce dependence on them.

What could achieve that? Lawsuits against fossil fuel companies that are dragging their feet on change are picking up, but activists are also trying a new tactic: filing deceptive advertising complaints against those who spend heavily on ads touting their green credentials.

Another way to drive change may be passing the regulations needed to make sure countries and companies that have pledged to meet net-zero goals are held to account on their promises to slash emissions.

"We are now in the fight - the power fight - for whether net-zero can be something that is a driver of change or if it is going to be captured by the fossil fuel industry and others to keep on doing what they want to do," notes Jennifer Morgan, head of Greenpeace International.

Need a bit of good news? Bangladesh this week cancelled 10 planned coal-fired power stations, saying pressure by climate activists and rising prices for coal made it no longer a good investment.

Also, don't miss our new video explainer on "fugitive methane emissions" - and why stopping them might buy a bit of time in the battle to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

See you next week!

Laurie

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