https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28092026/thermal-justice-europe/
"The extreme heat scientists have warned about for decades came to Europe again
this summer, killing at least 30,000 people like a silent, invisible plague. It
came for poor people, the very young and very old, and those suffering from
debilitating conditions.
The final toll will likely be higher. A 2024 United Nations report estimated
about 175,000 annual heat-related deaths across Europe, and total deaths in
European Union countries spiked above 60,000 in 2022 and 2024.
The heat started earlier than ever, in late May, and kept coming in deadly,
unrelenting waves that destroyed crops and vineyards, buckled railroad tracks,
turned forests to kindling and dried up rivers and lakes. When it settled
heavily over Bologna, Italy, in late June, residents of the industrial region
said it was like a stifling, life-threatening force that you feel in your
bones, transforming streets and buildings into radiators blasting warmth day
and night, making routine outdoor chores dangerous.
Heat is hard to see, but you feel it in the pavement, in the walls of poorly
insulated apartments, in sweat that never quite dries and a bedroom that just
won’t cool down. And people do not experience it equally.
Bologna photographer Michele Lapini made those differences visible, using his
iPhone and a thermal sensor to document temperatures in homes, workplaces and
public spaces as the heat gripped the city. The images show that construction
workers in direct sun, delivery riders crossing the city and residents of old
apartment buildings and poorly cooled senior centers inhabit radically
different thermal worlds than people with access to air conditioning, shade and
well-insulated homes."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
