The London School of Economics scheduled a panel called "Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world." It was cancelled because of extreme heat.
The Met Office had issued a rare red weather warning for Greater London, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 40C. Organisers said the venue lacked cooling and that going ahead would put attendees' wellbeing at risk.
Yes, the irony is real. But the version pinging around social media, smug academics undone by their own subject, misses what actually happened. A red warning is the Met Office's highest tier, the one that signals danger to life rather than discomfort. A room full of people with no air conditioning during one isn't a punchline; it's precisely the governance failure the event existed to discuss.
So how does a heat event get caught out by heat? Red warnings are issued days in advance, and many older UK buildings, university venues included, were never designed for 40C. The country that romanticises the summer of 1976 mostly lacks the indoor cooling that makes such temperatures survivable.
The mood online was less mocking than resigned. One widely shared post just said the quiet part: climate change isn't a gimmick. [1]
“Clocked climate change isn’t a gimmick”
Researchers keep making the point with numbers. The count of people experiencing heat stress worldwide has risen exponentially in recent decades, according to new research cited by ABC. [2] The money is moving too, with Michael Bloomberg committing $590 million toward renewable energy and cutting pollution. [3]
Still unconfirmed: whether LSE reschedules, and whether the next room has air conditioning.
Sources
Primary source: Climate change event on extreme heat is cancelled – due to extreme heat
- Tweet by @A11sttttt — @A11sttttt · community
- Tweet by @ABC — @ABC · community
- Tweet by @AMAZlNGNATURE — @AMAZlNGNATURE · community