Okay, maybe it was just an overview. Right now it’s hot in the Pacific Northwest – temperatures in Canada are breaking day after day and hundreds are dying. The environment of the Seattle Hospital has been described exactly as it was at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, except for heatstroke and people in the region’s cities have been seen retreating to “cold centers” to escape the heat. People don’t just glow in the heat, as several buildings, roads and other public infrastructure designed for mild summers are literally melting in the sun.
In Portland, Oregon, streetcar services were suspended for three days on temperature-melt power lines and red overhead wires. “Our infrastructure is built for the typical Portland temperature range,” explained Andrew Plumbek, a spokesman for Portland Streetcar to Newsweek. And this heatwave is more common in Portland than in June.
Temperatures in Portland are rarely warmed above 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit) at this time of year, so air conditioning is not a high priority. In nearby Seattle, where you are unlikely to see above June’s 29 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit), less than half the homes have installed it. Schools and communities have been forced to close their leisure facilities as temperatures in the northwestern Pacific Ocean rose to about 50 degrees Celsius (122°F) last week. “Most of our primary schools do not have air conditioning, which is not enough to keep the classrooms cool in this situation,” Angus Wilson, district superintendent of a British Columbia school district, told CBC News.
Even those residents who are lucky enough to carry an air conditioning unit are not guaranteed any respite from the heat. The intense temperatures have resulted in units being sold across the region, and local power grids are creating pressure amid increased pressure. Vivek Shandas Gizmodo, a professor in the Department of Climate Adaptation at Portland State University, explained, “Power grids are built around historical historical practices, and the pressure exerted on the grid when we get these unusual temperatures is unprecedented.” “[It] could then have the potential effect of accessing winter resources, especially at night when people are most at risk for urban heat.”
