Climate change news from the ground, in a warming world Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here [[link removed]] Megan Rowling [[link removed]]

Climate correspondent

Whether you're sweating at work or struggling to sleep, heat is on many people's minds this week, as the mercury hits uncomfortable highs across large parts of Europe, Asia and the United States.

The penny seems to be dropping that - as scientists have long warned - heatwaves and droughts are becoming increasingly brutal on a warming planet, and we need to be far better prepared to protect people, nature and our economies.

Newspapers and TV stations are starting to flag the dangers of extreme heat to health - especially in countries with milder climates, like Britain, that are not used to scorching temperatures [[link removed]] - amid rising death tolls.

As some in the Global North struggle to cope, we look at cheap and simple measures [[link removed]] in places that have already adapted to heat - including painting roofs and roads in light colours, early warning alerts, low-cost cooling, city-square sun shades and spray parks, and green corridors for commuters.

A girl cools off in a fountain in Nice as a heat wave hits France, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

With severe heat and prolonged dry spells also making forests more likely to burn, governments are looking at ways to reduce the risks of wildfires.

Our Europe correspondent Joanna Gill talked to officials, firefighters and environmental campaigners in Portugal about efforts to curb the threat there following a deadly fire disaster in 2017.

In the aftermath, Portugal launched a national drive [[link removed]], aiming to reshape fire management to focus on prevention, largely through innovations to make land less flammable - sparking interest in other fire-prone countries.

But locals feel neglected and still live in fear, while green groups argue a rural exodus means many forested areas have been abandoned.

"If you look around the houses, I can say that they already forgot 2017," forest engineer Luis Paulo Pita told our reporter in central Coimbra district, gesturing to wildly overgrown patches that pose a blaze risk near villages.

Forest engineer Luis Paulo Pita gestures amid the overgrown landscape in Coimbra, Portugal, June 2022. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Joanna Gill

And as longer-term temperature averages climb towards the lower Paris Agreement warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the world is pondering more drastic options to curb global heating.

They include a controversial sun-dimming technology [[link removed]], which mimics the sky-darkening effect of volcanic eruptions by injecting chemicals into the atmosphere to reflect away the sun's warmth.

But it also carries serious and unpredictable risks, critics say - from potential shifts in rainfall patterns that could spur hunger to rapid, uncontrollable temperature rise if the technology's use were suddenly stopped.

An early push to create rules to govern this kind of geoengineering shows signs of stalling, meanwhile, making it more likely that one powerful state or even individual could go it alone - potentially to the detriment of others.

"The more we see extreme events like hurricanes, wildfires, also just heatwaves that have acute impacts - those may motivate key actors to try to protect themselves," warns Jonathan Wiener, co-director of the U.S-based Duke Center on Risk.

Here's hoping for cooler times,

Megan

Heatwave relief: What can hot countries teach us about keeping cool? [[link removed]]

From sunshades to white roofs, and cooling payments to checks on the vulnerable, here's how hot countries deal with heat risks

As 1.5C warming limit nears, interest in sun-dimming tech heats up [[link removed]]

Climate-cooling technology could help rein in global heating and its impacts, say backers, but critics warn it carries serious and unknown risks, with some calling for research to stop

Portugal fights wildfires with new tactics as heatwaves raise risk [[link removed]]

Five years after a disastrous wildfire claimed 64 lives, Portugal is rethinking how it battles climate change-worsened blazes

OPINION: Why is it so hot? Climate change is here [[link removed]]

Heat is the clearest signal of climate change – and deadly heat will get even worse over the next 30 years as we struggle to act

Jungle in heart of Malaysia's capital hunts corporate cash to thrive [[link removed]]

Taman Tugu forest reserve in Kuala Lumpur is seeking business funding as more companies invest in nature and biodiversity

OPINION: We need a treaty to phase out fossil fuels [[link removed]]

Our focus on only limiting fossil fuel emissions - not production - has allowed countries and firms to claim climate leadership while also supporting new coal, oil and gas projects

OPINION: The UN General Assembly must back the right to a healthy environment [[link removed]]

Adopting this resolution would help states to respect, protect, and fulfil the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment

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