Thank you for writing about this reality that it seems everyone intends on avoiding, like the world's largest elephant in the world's hottest room. I'm spending a smoky and too-hot summer in my native province of Alberta, while my country continues to burn from multiple wildfires and my provincial government just set a moratorium on new green energy projects. It is apocalyptic when you can't open a window to cool your home - too hot outside or too smoky outside, yet getting too hot inside as you add to the heat with your AC churning. It is dystopian when your elected officials don't think beyond lobbyists' and CEOs' wishes. I can't keep hydrated well enough, can't walk as much and can't enjoy my backyard as a balm before the impending winter. I sense denial in so many people - running in smoke warnings, not donning a mask to work outside during smoke warnings; avoiding the difficult truth of our planet's situation, avoiding the plight of all those less fortunate and avoiding an emotional response to this calamity. I don't think we understand how heat will affect our physical and mental health, our recreation, our safety, our ability to live somewhere or ensure the integrity of our homes and belongings and the mental well-being of our children. Nature offers no ease; we've created a brutal jungle out there and governments will be paying to pick up the pieces, instead of taking deliberate and meaningful action to change tack. Collective, long-term thinking and global cooperation are in short supply and they are our only way out. I am beyond despair for this planet and all of its inhabitants, but especially the innocent creatures and the billions of humans who have done nothing to contribute to this global mess but who will continue to bear the brunt of the adverse effects.