Britain’s hottest day ever
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 July 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today on Post Reports, the 104-degree day that came years too soon in Britain. Plus, why President Biden is contemplating declaring a climate emergency in the U.S.
Read more:
London correspondent Karla Adam takes us to a non-air-conditioned housing bloc in London on the hottest day ever recorded in Britain. One tenant tells her he’s unplugged the fridge because he’s scared it’ll catch fire. Plus, London bureau chief William Booth explains why Britain's heat wave is just the beginning of dangerously high temperatures.
In the United States, President Biden has a goal to halve emissions by 2030. But since talks with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) stalled, Biden is considering taking executive action to bypass Congress. Tony Romm covers congressional economic policy, and he takes us through the rocky road ahead for the White House’s environmental agenda.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Carla Adam. I'm a reporter in London, where it is hot, hot, hot. |
| 0:10.0 | Today is the hottest day on record in the UK, like ever. |
| 0:16.0 | We are at record-breaking temperatures today. I slept on some sunscreen and a hat |
| 0:21.0 | and ventured out to a counsellor's date for social housing block in North London. |
| 0:26.0 | Hi there, I'm sorry to bother you. My name is Carla for the Washington Post. |
| 0:31.0 | I'm writing this straight to you, but I'm not. |
| 0:34.0 | Carla spent the day talking to people who live in a public housing complex called ShowCuts Estate. |
| 0:39.0 | And today it was very much a hot house. And like many homes across the UK, both public and private housing. |
| 0:47.0 | Most of the ones in these tower blocks didn't have air conditioning. |
| 0:51.0 | In the flat, it's crazy. The fans just blown out hot air. |
| 0:55.0 | One of the people that Carla spoke with was Paul Raffis. |
| 0:59.0 | All night you can't sleep. It's just as humidity. It's absolutely crazy. |
| 1:04.0 | There's nothing you can do. You just sort of grin and bear it. |
| 1:07.0 | Plenty of water. Getting up several times in the night, you know. |
| 1:11.0 | But when it's hot, you suffer in these blocks. |
| 1:18.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Martine Powers. |
| 1:23.0 | It's Tuesday, July 19th. |
| 1:26.0 | Today, we'll hear how record-breaking heat in the UK has climate scientists all over the world very worried. |
| 1:33.0 | And we'll also turn to the US. |
| 1:36.0 | Where President Biden is scrambling to figure out how to deliver on climate action without the help of Joe Manchin. |
| 1:43.0 | It is hot as crackers. It is hot as the devil's kitchen. It is very hot. |
| 1:55.0 | It just crested 40 degrees Celsius. |
... |
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