Cities Unprepared for Intense, Frequent Heat Waves

As the world braces for more intense heat waves fueled by climate change this summer, urban centers across the world are unprepared to face these brutal natural disasters.

Several countries in the Middle East, including Iran, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, surpassed 50 degrees Celsius this summer. Also, Moscow and Helsinki, Finland, saw their hottest June temperatures on record. A few weeks ago, a record-breaking heat wave in the usually temperate Pacific Northwest of the United States and western Canada brought temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius or higher. Oregon and Washington state reported nearly 200 heat-related deaths, and British Columbia's Coroners Service recorded over three times the number of sudden deaths than usual. Laborers in kitchens, warehouses, factories and fields suffered from heat exhaustion. Thousands of people lost power, and some public transportation services shut down due to melting operating infrastructure. "(Heat) is different than other extremes because it's slow moving, it's invisible," said Jennifer Vanos, who studies the effects of extreme heat on human health at Arizona State University. "And when it's anomalous, when it's something people have never experienced before, then it becomes a lot more dangerous."