Posts tagged with 'heat'
Cities and towns in the Mediterranean and the Middle East have long used white or light-colored roofs and walls to help keep people cool. Today, cities from Ahmedabad to Singapore are also turning to cool roofs to reduce urban heat ...
The low-lying schoolyard of Shuang Wen School (P.S. 184M) in New York City’s Chinatown tells a quiet story of transformation. Once an expanse of asphalt, this schoolyard and the surrounding neighborhood were devastated by flooding when Hurricane Sandy hit in ...
“The heat is terrible,” said Nadia, describing life in her hometown of Hermosillo, Mexico. “To get to work, we’re forced to take the bus because if you walk, you dehydrate. It’s impossible to walk.” Scorching temperatures affect more than just ...
From hydration breaks during the FIFA World Cup to recent heat waves leaving Europe sweltering in an early summer, extreme heat is reshaping daily life. Around the world, communities are adapting in real time to increasingly high temperatures. During Europe’s ...
Climate change is one of the greatest health threats we face. By 2050, it could claim nearly 16 million deaths across low- and middle-income countries. Extreme heat, the spread of climate-sensitive diseases like malaria and cholera, and disruptions to hospitals and other healthcare could ...
In Shenzhen’s Houhai Central District, summer temperatures climb higher each year. Last summer, the city recorded a blistering 37.5 degrees C (99.5 degrees F), one of its hottest days in decades. For residents in dense, aging apartment blocks, staying cool ...
On a hot summer afternoon, the difference between one city block and the next can feel like a different world. On one street, the sun beats down from above while the pavement radiates heat from below. Just around the corner, ...
A decade ago, scientists believed that unchecked global warming could heat the world to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) above preindustrial levels sometime around 2045. It now looks like we could pass this critical threshold as soon as 2030. Indeed, some research ...
On a hot day in February 2024, volunteers dispersed across Cape Town, South Africa, with sensors affixed to their cars. Their aim was to measure heat differences across the city. In Cape Town’s dense, highly developed center, they recorded air temperatures ...
Over the next few decades, Rwanda is positioned to become one of the most competitive investment destinations in East Africa. National targets, such as achieving upper middle-income status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050 (Vision 2050)1, signal the government’s ...
When the weather heats up in Belo Horizonte, residents of Morro do Papagaio get creative. “A lot of people put their blankets in the refrigerator,” said Amanda Lima, a 24-year-old university student, activist and resident of the south-central region of ...
An ambitious reforestation program in Dire Dawa’s watershed is helping to restore hundreds of hectares of farmland and reduce flood risk, while providing 7,000 new jobs and economic opportunities, especially for women and young adults. Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, is known ...
Ten years ago, we witnessed something akin to a miracle. Hundreds of leaders came together for the UN’s annual climate summit (COP21) in Paris. There, they forged what many thought impossible: a global agreement to curb climate change — one where virtually ...
Which neighborhoods are suffering the most from rising urban heat? Where is flooding the biggest challenge? What other cities around the world are struggling with air pollution, and what can we learn from those that have improved the quality of ...
Much of Europe sweltered in August 2025 as a heat dome spread across the continent, pushing peak afternoon temperatures to over 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) in France and Spain. Meanwhile, parts of Greece, Turkey and Albania battled historic and devastating ...