A cross-posting from my GCSE Natural History Blog which has over 300 posts on it already. With some additional content.
A nicely illustrated story from The Guardian described a plan to green the rooves of Paris.
This would have several benefits for the city, which is preparing to host the Olympics - some events are already underway ahead of the Opening Ceremony. Many people live in the centre of Paris, in tall buildings which are subdivided into small flats. During heatwaves this makes them vulnerable to high overnight temperatures which increases the health risk. This caused real problems in previous summers with high mortality rates, particularly amongst elderly people.
An organisation called Roofscapes is involved.
The article says:An estimated 70-80% of the French capital’s buildings – about 110,000 properties – have zinc roofs that not only actively contribute to rising temperatures by absorbing the sun’s heat, but also slope, which means doing anything with them is something of what the French call a casse-tête (headache).
The Roofscapes team suggests overcoming this with wooden platforms fixed across the sloping panels to create roof gardens, terraces and even walkways. These, they say will have a triple benefit of stopping the metal overheating, thus lowering temperatures in the city, increasing biodiversity and creating outdoor spaces for residents.
There are fears about the temperatures at the games anyway, with a report exploring how extreme heat will affect the athletes and spectators. This is called Rings of Fire II. It focusses on the Paris Olympics, and follows an earlier report on the Tokyo Olympics.
Pragnya Mohan, the highest-ever ranked Indian triathlete who spoke at the BASIS Conference, describing “scary” dangers “that can be fatal” as “your body feels like it’s shutting down”.Olympic bronze medal tennis player Marcus Daniell reporting that “at [the Tokyo Olympics] I felt like the heat was bordering on true risk – the type of risk that could potentially be fatal. One of the best tennis players in the world [Daniil Medvedev] said he thought someone might die in Tokyo, and I don’t feel like that was much of an exaggeration. This is not fun or healthy.”
Team GB Rugby 7s player Jamie Farndale, who says “We push ourselves to our limits, and if we have to do so in conditions that are unsafe I don’t think the athlete would hold back. It is not in an athlete’s DNA to stop and if the conditions are too dangerous I do think there is a risk of fatalities
Sam Mattis USA Olympian and 2019 Outdoor USA Champion in discus: “Unfortunately, in the US, athletes dying from heat stroke is not new. As extreme heat events become more commonplace, and the stakes remain unchanged for athletes (perform or go broke), it seems likely that it will happen again.”
The games are planned to be as sustainable as possible. Only two new venues are being constructed, and they are being built from wood, or using other low-carbon techniques.
More to come as the games get underway...
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