For Muskan, the arrival of summer in Delhi is the “beginning of hell.” As temperatures in her cramped, densely populated east Delhi neighbourhood often soar above 45 C, she dreams of only one thing: air conditioning.
A heat wave that is expected to last most of next week has prompted British Columbia's government to warn people to prepare for sweltering conditions, but a repeat of the deadly 2021 heat dome isn't being forecast.
As summer heat waves intensify and advocates sound the alarm on the lack of protections for the most vulnerable populations, one extreme weather expert is calling for access to cooling to be treated as a human right.
A broad coalition on climate adaptation and disaster resilience says air conditioning should become a human right on par with winter heating — one of a series of hard targets it says Canada needs to meet in the next few years as climate change impacts increase.
The Hamilton chapter of ACORN Canada, a group representing low- and moderate-income people, held a rally Wednesday to draw attention to people living in sweltering rental housing.