The sun beams down on a lifeguard while she watches over a beach at Lake Harriet during an extreme heat warning, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
In today’s The Big Story podcast, more than 451,000 additional lives may be taken come February as a result of extreme heat from this year’s ‘super’ El Niño. That’s according to a recent study by the Climate Impact Lab, who also says these deaths can be avoided if the right mitigation plans are put in place.
Host Maria Kestane is speaking with Genevieve Maricle, the Executive Director of the Climate Impact Lab, about where these 451,000 deaths could come from, how much of the problem has to do with infrastructure rather than temperature, and what emergency preparedness could look like.
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