Heat kills
On Breckenridge, the Dust Bowl, and the need to see the high-tech attraction in softer techniques like green roofs
The heatwave that cooked much of the Northern Hemisphere in June was the likely cause of about 5,700 excess deaths in France alone, and maybe 10,000 across Europe generally. Those numbers are brutal statistics, but it’s worth contextualizing a little further: The number of excess deaths in France alone well exceeds the entire cadet population at West Point or the population of Breckenridge, Colorado. It’s as though the largest cruise ship in the world sank with every passenger aboard lost.
■ Is any one incident like this directly attributable solely to global warming? Maybe or maybe not; there were, after all, devastating heat waves during the Dust Bowl, too. But the long-term trends are pretty clear, and higher average temperatures are probably going to have some non-trivial impact on the frequency of prolonged high-heat events.
■ So the question is: What are we going to do about it? Even if we were to stop all carbon emissions tomorrow, there’s plainly enough momentum in the atmosphere that heat extremes are likely here to stay. And despite the puritanical illusions of some people, air conditioning is clearly part of the answer.
■ We should take note, though, that air conditioning, as we know it, isn’t the only answer. The world needs a solid commitment to an all-of-the-above approach to cooling at the human level. Part of that means implementing not just active cooling via air conditioning, but also passive cooling and heat resistance: Window shades, retractable awnings, reflective glass, green roofs, and even green walls. They’re all worth getting into the mix.
■ Communities need to look at municipal-scale cooling features, as well. Urban heat islands are very real, and natural shade, heat-resistant paving materials, and urban greening programs need to be in the mix of answers, too.
■ For several generations, we’ve been attuned to ideas that made “progress” synonymous with “big, visible technology” -- highways, rockets, and giant buildings. Now it’s time to see and admire the high tech in greener, more incrementalist moves. Lives are counting on it.
