It is hovering over 100 degrees here in Los Angeles. I have not been invited to Malibu to any beach parties to stay cool. How are people coping with the heat? My son’s school doesn’t have air conditioning but the school is being pro-active to beat the heat.
Dear Parents,
It’s going to be a hot week! We want to reassure you that the XX School is taking several steps to accommodate the high temperatures and to ensure the health and comfort of our students:
1. We are closing the blacktop during lunch time.
2. The PE coaches are changing their activities to accommodate for the
heat.
3. We have distributed spray water bottles, of the sort used at the Jogathon, to help keep children cool.
4. We are distributing extra fans in as many classrooms as possible.
5. Where feasible, classroom lights will be turned off to lower the room temperature
6. In classroom morning meetings, teachers and teaching assistants stressed the importance of staying hydrated, and they will continue to encourage children to drink water throughout the day.
We encourage you to send water bottles this week to help keep students hydrated.
Best,
XX
This all sounds reasonable and not so expensive to comply with.
This summer the temperature reached 120 degrees in Baghdad . Demand for electricity was high. Is the state willing and able to provide necessary infrastructure for coping with the heat? Improvements in solar could decentralize the grid and allow for competition in order
to provide greater reliability and to avoid state monopoly issues.
If our friends to predict the weather on a week to week basis can foresee a heat wave coming, then this “heads up” will make it even easier for to adapt. Different people will have access to different coping strategies and merely to due to self interest — such individuals will seek out the right strategy for themselves.
Wired Magazine and AARP’s Magazine report on Climatopolis.
The future of cities in the face of climate change is a midly interesting topic. Climate scientists should share the microphone with micro-economists on this subject. We (the economists) have some interesting things to say on this subject and we certainly like to talk.
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