How Old Extreme Weather Playbooks Can Save Us From Future Heat

The article says the deadly 2003 European heat wave exposed how buildings and public-health systems designed for cold left people dangerously exposed to extreme heat.

It argues that cities can reduce heat deaths by adapting proven disaster-response tools from cold, flood, and hurricane planning.

Examples include vulnerability mapping, utility protections, cooling shelters, and layered alert systems used in places like France, Canada, the U.S., and Nordic countries.

The piece frames heat as a growing climate killer and calls for stronger heat-wave preparedness and climate resilience.