“I don’t believe it’s still possible for anyone to deny the impact of climate change,” Biden said. On Thursday, July 27, the US President declared climate change an “existential threat” as “more than 100 million Americans” are, he says, currently facing record heat.
The 80-year-old Democrat said heat is the number one climate- and weather-related killer in the United States, claiming 600 lives a year, more than floods and hurricanes. In particular, he took the example of a woman who suffered severe burns after falling from her wheelchair onto the scorching ground in Arizona, in the southwest of the country.
While the UN Secretary General has just estimated that the world is now in the “age of boiling” and no longer in the “age of warming”, Joe Biden has announced a series of actions , financed by a major energy transition investment plan. Already approved by Congress, they aim to increase water storage capacity in the western United States and improve the national weather forecasting system.
He also promised more protection for workers most exposed to record temperatures, particularly in agriculture and construction.
The American president also offered a series of practical advice, for example recommending that Americans not travel without a bottle of water and advising them to go to places with air conditioning when they don’t have any at home.
He had invited by videoconference the mayor of Phoenix in Arizona, Kate Gallego, who assured that her state, however accustomed to hot weather, was experiencing an “unprecedented” summer.
Joe Biden also spoke with the mayor of San Antonio in Texas, Ron Nirenberg. “I hope the AC is working,” he joked, addressing him through screens.
