London, United Kingdom – The Meteorology Office (MET) of the United Kingdom named the newest heat wave ravaging Europe after Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
For the first time in recorded history, the temperature in parts of the UK soared to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Roads are buckling. Fires are breaking out in London. The government predicts many will die from the heat.
Naming heat waves is relatively new in Britain. In the United States, there is an active debate on the merits of doing so.
Axios reported on the matter in the article Heat waves could soon have names.
Why it matters: Heat waves are the deadliest type of weather emergency in the U.S. They’re bigger killers than floods, tornadoes or hurricanes — and they’re growing in frequency and intensity due to global warming.
Excessive heat — which hits low-income communities the hardest — doesn’t lend itself to dramatic TV coverage, so people sometimes underestimate the risk.
Proponents of a more formal public warning system say it could save lives and trigger measures like opening community cooling stations and asking people to stay indoors.
Minister of the MET Lord Andrew Canard believes that naming the heat wave Joe Manchin is fitting since the West Virginia senator seems intent on thwarting any of President Joe Biden’s attempts at fighting the climate crisis.
How is it that one senator mucks up the whole system?
MET Minister Lord Andrew Canard
Lord Canard was referring to Manchin’s latest assault on common sense and common decency.
The Guardian reported on the story with the article ‘A modern-day villain’: Joe Manchin condemned for killing US climate action
Joe Manchin’s decision to kill off sweeping US climate legislation has been called “nothing short of a death sentence” for younger people and a livable climate on Earth, amid an outpouring of anger and despair from activists, scientists and even many of the US Senator’s Democratic colleagues.
Manchin, the centrist West Virginia senator who has become a millionairethrough his founding of a coal-trading company in his home state, dealt a crushing political blow to Joe Biden’s agenda on Thursday night when he made clear he would not support any spending to curb the climate crisis in a proposed bill.
Public opinion in Britain overwhelmingly supports MET in its gutsy move. In a snap poll, 88% believe the American politician should, “Shag off.”
Here’s what a few Londoners thought.
He’s a pimple of man, that Joe Manchin.
– Craig Hall
I think it’s great for my Nan to have to deal with this heat wave. Thanks, Joe Manchin.
– Aimee Thomson
Has anyone told Joe Manchin he can’t just Monroe Doctrine the global climate? Oh, wait, you’d need to explain what the Monroe Doctrine is to him first.
– James Stuart
In related news, Florida schools must now call slaves ‘unpaid interns.’
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