[janet gunter]

During our recent visit to California, I was invited to my nephew's away tennis game at an extremely posh private high school near Santa Barbara. It was so lush and manicured that we honestly thought we had taken a wrong turn and were in some elite country club. There were pepper trees planted around the courts we sat next to, and mulch all around. The effect was on on a very hot, sunny day we were able to sit in comfort.

A week later, we got invited to his inland public high school for a match. I checked the forecast (33C / 91F), and I did some reconnaissance online and discovered that there were few trees, no shade and pavement everywhere. We weren't just thinking of my elderly family members when we declined the offer.

In spite of all of the air conditioning and creature comforts, life for the not-super-rich in southern California seemed harder than it was in Portugal when I lived there twenty years ago. And this was all down to expectations that life should carry on as normal with hostile weather conditions.

In retrospect, I too probably played high school tennis in 30sC / 90sF conditions. (Or wet bulb equivalent, as I grew up in a much more humid place.)

What surprised me the most was that my nephew's family were simply not bothered by the heat, saying they have played in 40C / 104F before.

Later during the same trip, we contemplated stopping for a short swim (in my case float) at a public pool while elderly family members waited 20 minutes for us. But again, based on a recce of the pool, which revealed almost no shade, we had to cancel that plan.

It's not that Southern California does not have shade – in fact I was admiring Ventura's ample jacaranda trees while there. And my nephew's public high school was new enough that, perhaps in 20 years time, there will be shade from the trees planted there. And it's true that sometimes trees close to buildings exacerbate fire risk. So I'm not saying that it's not complicated or expensive to face these problems.

But I was struck with how unprepared the region was to live with Gulf-like conditions which are here to stay. Nobody should be playing tennis outdoors at 40C/104F. Outdoor recreation facilities should be built/based around shade, air circulation and access to water. And certain activities should simply not occur over certain temperatures.

In a sense, in England, we are unprepared for climate breakdown and heatwaves in different ways. I would say shade is more of a justice issue here than what I witnessed in southern California (where even relatively well-to-do communities lacked it) – the tree equity index shows how England is only a “green and pleasant land” for some.

Here, those who can will simply cancel plans in heat and shelter in place. But there are many who must continue to work in the heat and the UK has nothing like California's safety standards. In fact the discussion has only just seriously begun.

There is a raging debate about air conditioning here now, with the reactionary mainstream media suggesting that environmentalists want to ban it. Nobody is suggesting it shouldn't be deployed in public places and on public transport. And people in accommodation they cannot improve should be given access to battery-powered units that can charge overnight, like they are doing in New York City.

But take it from me, a USian who has lived in Portugal: those who say we need to learn more from the Med than from the States are 100% correct. In Iberia, cities and streets were designed to provide natural shade. But even if we can't redesign the cityscape, we can borrow some features – like persianas, which are blind/shutters that block out the heat and can allow a little daylight in. Kris at Lowtech Magazine has a great article about the “dressing” of streets and houses.

We can also just learn to be more agile about work/life patterns like the people of the Med. The “siesta” is still often depicted as evidence of Iberian laziness, but it should be understood as ingenuity. Why fight the natural world? I've written before about how all of us need to understand our collective energy consumption to truly respond to the climate crisis, and this is potentially a good entry point. Instead of running air conditioners to be working through the worst hours, why not wait until better hours?

As I write this, in England there is a burgeoning middle-class (USians, read: bougie) movement to bring back lidos, or outdoor pools, that were destroyed due to Thatcherite policies in the 80s and 90s. It's genuinely hard to believe this country once had 300. I live in a major city and the nearest lido is an hour away by car and almost two hours on public transport. As much as I would love to get the local lido back (which is now a “Pirate Park” playground), these campaigns need to broaden to include communities most affected by the heat.

Natural shade, outdoor pools, protecting buildings from the sun, changes in work patterns and conditions, are never going to be given to us by capitalists and policymakers without a fight.

But we need to understand these as rallying cries as part of a climate justice agenda, that recognises that those dealing with deprivation and vulnerability are already bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.