Dear Reader,

On Sunday, August 9th, the Hong Kong Observatory recorded a temperature of 36.9 C (98.4 F), the highest since records began in 1884.

I’ve often told my friends stateside to imagine Hong Kong’s normal summer climate as “Houston on steroids.” This past Sunday was something else: I was breaking into a sweat just standing in the shade waiting for the bus. There was no breeze, and you could feel the heat radiating into your body, as if you stepped into a sauna. In fact, the “feels like” temperature reached 46 C (114.8 F) — hotter than Houston, Miami, or Phoenix.

This is not the Hong Kong I grew up in. I used to play pickup basketball all the time in the afternoon when I was in high school. Now I can’t imagine doing any outdoor exercise in this weather. (Ironically, this past Monday, I had to look after two dozen middle schoolers at church who biked and paddled at a local reservoir; the event had been postponed because Hong Kong also recorded its second-rainiest July in history.)

Despite the oppressive heat, local media reported that the Hong Kong Labour Department’s heat stress warning system remained at its lowest amber level over the previous weekend. When red or black warnings are issued, employers are supposed to offer workers frequent breaks or even suspend work entirely; somehow, a red or black warning has never been issued. This prompted former Observatory chief (and former The Xylom contributor!) Lam Chiu-ying to criticize the mechanism as “baffling” and “decorative.”

As Hong Kong authorities pledge to revamp the system, I think of the time when our contributor Myriam Vidal Valero looked into how Texas researchers built a heatstroke calculator for burn victims. Although the researchers avoided Trump’s cuts on research funding and secured funding to build a second calculator for construction workers who have previously survived burns, Texas Republicans passed a state law eliminating local ordinances in Dallas and Austin that had mandated water breaks for construction workers. This means that the Texas heatstroke calculator, like the Hong Kong heat stress warning system as currently constructed, will also be nothing more than a suggestion, albeit for different reasons.

A few days after the worst of the heat wave had receded, my mom would bring up the issue to me unprompted. “Climate change is real. Extreme weather events like these didn’t happen here until a couple of years ago!”

She is right. But while extreme weather events will become more frequent and intense, not acting on climate adaptation (or even taking steps to prevent others from acting) is a political choice. Extreme heat does not respect political beliefs or borders; The Xylom will continue to bring you accountability and solutions coverage of the issue from around the world.

Best regards,
Alex Ip,
Publisher and Editor

🚢 ICYMI: Old San Juan’s Cruise Growth Tests How Much the Historic City Can Take

The Puerto Rican government's ambitions to grow cruise tourism have run into the hard realities of Old San Juan's infrastructure. And that was before the island’s ongoing record-breaking drought.

This story was first published by Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. Read more here.

LOVE this newsletter? The best way you can support our independent reporting is to share it with a friend. Join our community now: