"Climate shelters" against deadly heat waves

In a background article published in the NZZ am Sonntag, I explore the phenomenon of heat waves. Heatwaves are deadly - and their frequency, duration and intensity are increasing, according to the latest studies in climate science. Europe and Switzerland are also affected, as I show in my article - and in many places there is a lack of effective concepts to protect the population from the increasing heat. It cannot be stressed enough: heatwaves are unfair. They hit the poorest hardest: people living in refugee camps and informal settlements in megacities like Delhi, Kolkata or Karachi. They have no air conditioning, nor are their homes insulated against the heat. Then there are all those who have to work outdoors, including construction workers and farmers. Many thanks to Samuel Lüthi, Martina Ragettli and Ana M. Vicedo Cabrera for informative discussions and insights into the latest research on heat waves. In episode 54 of 'treibaus - the climate podcast', we showed that there are indeed ways to protect vulnerable groups from the heat. Ana Terra Amorim-Maia from the Basque 'Centre for Climate Change' explains how Barcelona's 'climate shelters' work.