Europe is experiencing record-breaking heat this week, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius in many areas. Some regions in Spain and Portugal are even hotter than the Sahara Desert.
As a result of the extreme heat, governments are advising citizens to stay indoors, schools are closed, wildfires are spreading, and nuclear reactors are reducing their output due to rivers becoming too warm to efficiently cool them. The World Health Organization has reported 1,300 deaths in Europe attributed to the heat since June 21st.
For years, Europe has structured its cities, homes, public areas, and tourism sector based on the expectation of hot but tolerable summers. However, this assumption is now being challenged as the climate shifts.
Ajit Niranjan, The Guardian’s Europe environment correspondent, discusses the implications of an entire continent realizing it was designed for a climate that no longer exists.
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