European Heat Wave

[allezfred]

Everyone knows it's just a short-term fix but what else can you do to survive?

Lyon council has done an incredible amount to make Lyon greener and has managed to reduce the pollution quite a bit but it is a drop in the ocean of what needs to be done to make it liveable.

They've planted 10s of thousands of trees and added greenery wherever the can. They've made Lyon very car-unfriendly by pedestianising many roads, changing some lanes of traffic into extensive cycle lane networks, changing other lanes into bus/taxi only lanes. They've improved the frequency of public transport, built new tramlines/extended metro lines and added electric buses/trams.

I'm very proud of Lyon for what has been done, but it has done little to solve the extreme heat problem this summer.
Everyone is in shock.

Without air conditioning, you are just surviving in Lyon, the heatwaves stop normal life. People are sleep-deprived and heat-exhausted. Nights where it doesn't drop below 26c/27c are unbearable, especially when it lasts for 2 weeks at a time with little respite between heatwaves. You know it is bad when you start to feel that 34c in the day and 22c at night is cool!.

And now Lyon has a third heatwave in progress, only a week after the last killer-heatwave ended.

I'm also not convinced the official figures of how many have died are accurate. I can't see how old people without air conditioning are surviving.

Sorry for the rant. I understand how it must look from the outside, but you will do whatever you can to survive. it is no longer about being a bit uncomfortable, it is literally becoming unliveable. God help us in 5 years time.

Well, obviously the places that need to install it will have to install as has been done in Spain and Italy, but every European home does not need to have air conditioning. It’s really frustrating that we have been warned about this for decades though and nothing has been done earlier.

 

[taz'smum]

Well, obviously the places that need to install it will have to install as has been done in Spain and Italy, but every European home does not need to have air conditioning. It’s really frustrating that we have been warned about this for decades though and nothing has been done earlier.

We don't feel the government is taking it seriously here even after these record breaking heatwaves which are far from over.
All they do is put out information about putting ice in front of fans and closing your blinds all day etc. This feels patronising and is making everyone feel angry.

We need real action. As they are doing in Spain, create dedicated air conditioned places where the old and fragile can go to escape the heat. All they say here, is go to the local shopping centre to stay cool.

They also open the parks over night so you can sleep outdoors but only for a red heatwave. Surprise surprise, this year, despite the heatwaves being record-breaking here in Lyon, they were only labelled orange heatwaves, so the parks are closed overnight.

When will the government, in their air-conditioned offices, wake up and realise the economy doing well is less important than its citizens dying from the heat?

Sorry, I am in full rant mode. That's the accumulation of very little sleep over an extended period!

 

[PRlady]

I’m appalled that people can’t decide for themselves whether to air condition their homes in places with killer heatwaves. Governments should do all they can in creating clean energy, but modern A/C uses less fuel than heat and somehow it’s ok for every Eurhome to have heat! More people die from heat than cold and that’s going to be more true every year.

 

[skategal]

I’m appalled that people can’t decide for themselves whether to air condition their homes in places with killer heatwaves. Governments should do all they can in creating clean energy, but modern A/C uses less fuel than heat and somehow it’s ok for every Eurhome to have heat! More people die from heat than cold and that’s going to be more true every year.

Yes.

Access to air conditioned spaces is recognized as an important short-term strategy by the WHO for prevention of heat-related deaths in their strategy document.

In the Long-term, much work needs to be done regarding re-design and reconstruction of both work spaces and homes.

Of course, governments don’t want to spearhead that.

I don’t blame anyone for putting in illegal A/C units.

 

[Finnice]

I was in Germany last weekend to one of my favourite punk band's concert. 41 C in Saturday. We survived, because the hotel had AC. The 2 km.walk to the arena and back was challenging. We drank lots of water and cherry juica and ate salted peanuts.

It is 16 C and raining here in Southern Finland and I am not complaining. Some of the Finns think that we will have a tourist invasion in the coming years, called coolcation.

 

[Jay42]

You would have to live in Newfoundland or way up North. Those are the only places in Canada now that routinely do not need A/C.

Even way up North has been struggling, I'm right on the edge of the divide between central and northern Alberta so we hear about what's going on in the territories a lot, as well as being one of the main places for that evacuees from the North West Territories come when they have wildfires, and their summers have gotten a lot hotter as well.

I wish we had air conditioning, we've managed ok with fans and hiding in the basement during heat waves, but my mom and I both struggle when it's too hot and my dad still insists that since we only need it for a little bit of the summer that we're fine. I will say at least out heat waves aren't super long when we have them but I would still love to have some sort of air conditioning.

 

[Vagabond]

89° en route to 95° here in Paris, and I am sheltering in the shade in the Jardin de Luxembourg.

Fortunately, its drier here than Oxford or London, and whatever grass pollen triggered my allergic reaction in London seems not to be present here. ( A friend of mine here notes drily that there is no grass here and hence no pollen.)

I may migrate later this afternoon to Notre Dame or some other temperate building, but my hometown fog beckons.

 

[Private Citizen]

89° en route to 95° here in Paris, and I am sheltering in the shade in the Jardin de Luxembourg.

Fortunately, its drier here than Oxford or London, and whatever grass pollen triggered my allergic reaction in London seems not to be present here. ( A friend of mine here notes drily that there is no grass here and hence no pollen.)

I may migrate later this afternoon to Notre Dame or some other temperate building, but my hometown fog beckons.

I'm supposed to go to Paris this weekend, but I'm considering cancelling given the weather forecast. I don't trust air conditioning in hotels to work, having had two previous bad experiences. I also don't trust Eurostar not to cancel or have delays, during which I'd be trapped in an overcrowded, overheated train station. I pre-booked one museum for each of Saturday and Sunday morning, figuring I'd have the other time to explore, but I really don't want to be outside in these temps.

So far, Eurostar doesn't seem to be offering free cancellations, so I'd have to either eat the cost or try to reschedule. I can cancel the hotel until Friday, and two pre-booked museum tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable.

If anyone is in Paris this weekend and wants to go to L'Orangerie on Saturday morning or Fondation Louis Vuitton on Sunday morning, feel free to PM me. You're welcome to my tickets for free if I don't use them.

I've never in my life wished for cold and grey the way I have this summer.

 

[Vagabond]

@Private Citizen Paris will always be there when you want it, but hotel air conditioning may not.

 

[kwanfan1818]

From CBC on reverse SAD:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/summer-seasonal-affective-disorder-9.7257513?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=owned&utm_campaign=dm_cbc070926&utm_content=radio&cmp=newsletter_CBC Newsletter_17695_2176286

 

[Cachoo]

Does Europe, particularly the warmer countries, have any kind of RV culture? My trips to the Rockies during the hottest months included meeting some folks, mostly retired, who simply follow the weather and move around in their RV's. It's not for me but being at 9000 feet during the summer and migrating to Arizona in the winter is a viable option for a lot of folks.

 

[Winnipeg]

It is forecasted to be 37 degrees C here in Winnipeg with a humidex taking the temp to 47

 

[Private Citizen]

Thousands will have died in UK's unprecedented May and June heatwaves

An early estimate suggests more than 2,700 people will have died from heat-related causes during the UK's exceptionally hot weather in recent months.

www.bbc.co.uk

More than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the exceptionally hot weather in May and June, experts' estimates suggest.
[...]

The study estimates that around 550 people died as a result of the heat between 21 and 29 May, and nearly 2,200 died between 18 and 28 June in England and Wales.
[...]

Many UK homes are not built to cope, leaving people vulnerable to prolonged, high temperatures.

Heat puts immense physical strain on the body, made worse if you are dehydrated, with the heart pumping harder and faster to cool you off.

Babies and older people are among those most at risk of harm, as well as those with existing health conditions.

It can lead to more heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal emergencies.

Intense heat can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people, and is dubbed a 'silent killer' because early symptoms are easily overlooked.

 

[Winnipeg]

I think it is common for people to take weather extremes too lightly. What is a little heat, what is a little cold........both extremes can be highly dangerous and can cause death (not to speak the obvious but my point is many of us probably take a tad more lightly than we should). There have been many cases here during the winter where people have lost digits due to frost bite etc,

 

[Buzz]

It's gonna be a scorcher here today with the humidity in the 40s!

 

[PRlady]

Thousands will have died in UK's unprecedented May and June heatwaves

An early estimate suggests more than 2,700 people will have died from heat-related causes during the UK's exceptionally hot weather in recent months.

www.bbc.co.uk

More than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the exceptionally hot weather in May and June, experts' estimates suggest.
[...]

The study estimates that around 550 people died as a result of the heat between 21 and 29 May, and nearly 2,200 died between 18 and 28 June in England and Wales.
[...]

Many UK homes are not built to cope, leaving people vulnerable to prolonged, high temperatures.

Heat puts immense physical strain on the body, made worse if you are dehydrated, with the heart pumping harder and faster to cool you off.

Babies and older people are among those most at risk of harm, as well as those with existing health conditions.

It can lead to more heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal emergencies.

Intense heat can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people, and is dubbed a 'silent killer' because early symptoms are easily overlooked.

I can ratify this as we just landed at a lovely English country inn. It’s only 72 (22) outside but much warmer in our room which is not air conditioned. Clearly this lovely old house was not built to withstand heat, which in Cumbria makes sense.

 

[Buzz]

With the humidity it is 46 right now

 

[Buzz]

Wrong thread

 

[Judy]

I have central air conditioning in my home but Ottawa has always had hot and humid summers so …

 

[Cachoo]

Even way up North has been struggling, I'm right on the edge of the divide between central and northern Alberta so we hear about what's going on in the territories a lot, as well as being one of the main places for that evacuees from the North West Territories come when they have wildfires, and their summers have gotten a lot hotter as well.

I wish we had air conditioning, we've managed ok with fans and hiding in the basement during heat waves, but my mom and I both struggle when it's too hot and my dad still insists that since we only need it for a little bit of the summer that we're fine. I will say at least out heat waves aren't super long when we have them but I would still love to have some sort of air conditioning.

In my youngest years my parents had a little window unit before we moved to a home with central air. On the hottest summer days we would pile into the living room which was the one room you could count on to be cooled by that little box. I wonder if something like this would work instead of central air.

 

[Buzz]

Not sure where to put this but the air quality in Toronto right now is pretty bad. Went out today and it looks quite foggy outside.

Recap: Ontario wildfires choke Toronto with poor air quality, orange haze; smoke forecast map predicts conditions to come

As of Tuesday night, just under 200 total active wildfires have been reported, according to the province.

www.thestar.com

 

[Judy]

Not sure where to put this but the air quality in Toronto right now is pretty bad. Went out today and it looks quite foggy outside.

Recap: Ontario wildfires choke Toronto with poor air quality, orange haze; smoke forecast map predicts conditions to come

As of Tuesday night, just under 200 total active wildfires have been reported, according to the province.

www.thestar.com

Nearly 200 wildfires burning in northern Ontario amid evacuations, highway closures

Nearly 200 wildfires are burning in northern Ontario, forcing residents to flee their homes, closing highways and sending smoke across much of the province.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[Judy]

The Via Rail train getting caught in it but everyone evacuated and they are safe.

 

[Winnipeg]

Not sure where to put this but the air quality in Toronto right now is pretty bad. Went out today and it looks quite foggy outside.

Recap: Ontario wildfires choke Toronto with poor air quality, orange haze; smoke forecast map predicts conditions to come

As of Tuesday night, just under 200 total active wildfires have been reported, according to the province.

www.thestar.com

The news reported Toronto had the worst AQ in the world yesterday. Not healthy to exercise outside etc. The AQ was worse than in Delhi. The fires and weather fronts have contributed to this situation.

I do not envy you. Hope it passes soon!!

 

[Winnipeg]

The Via Rail train getting caught in it but everyone evacuated and they are safe.

I saw that clip on tv and it looked terrifying for those inside the train! So glad everyone is ok.

 

[Judy]

I am starting to smell the smoke outside now. We are at a level 8. Thankfully my air conditioner keeps it out of my home.

 

[Buzz]

The scene in northern Ontario

Audrey (@parickards.bsky.social)

Yesterday...Northwestern Ontario looked like a scene straight out of Dante’s Peak.

bsky.app

 

[Buzz]

Air quality is expected to improve tomorrow.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/smoke-air-quality-warning-thursday-9.7272088

 

[ballettmaus]

The news reported Toronto had the worst AQ in the world yesterday. Not healthy to exercise outside etc. The AQ was worse than in Delhi. The fires and weather fronts have contributed to this situation.

I do not envy you. Hope it passes soon!!

Based on what I read, Toronto passed the baton to Chicago on Thursday.

And lawmakers from Michigan are fed up. I can't find the article anymore but, apparently, Canada made cuts to preventative measures and hasn't reinvested despite assurances. If true, I find that incredibly irresponsible. Wildfire smoke isn't just a health hazard but each fire adds to global warming and makes climate change worse which means the fires will only get worse.

 

[PRlady]

We have Code Purple air quality in DC today. Such a nice welcome home.