- “29°C (84°F) was the warmest temperature in the country yesterday, and that is the end of the high-summer. From today the air will be cool and low pressures are building up from the west. I need to stress though how the risk for wild fires are still serious in the southern parts of the country and at the coast of Northern Sweden.”
It was the Swedish National Radio meteorologist announcing the forecast. And yes, it definitely feels like fall. And in only three weeks time it is the general elections in Sweden.
The extreme temperatures and wild fires in a way we’ve never seen before, have of course sailed up to the top on the political agenda. The different parties are doing their blame game on the question why we weren't prepared for such fires and why Sweden don’t have a plan of action when it comes to heat waves.
There is a simple answer to that. It’s because it’s new to us. Yes, we had a big wild fire in 2014, and it brought us to the attention. And we have had heat waves before, but rarely more than one or two weeks at the time and never with such extreme temperatures. And, of course 3,5 months as has been the case in the southern parts of Sweden this summer is unprecedented.
This last spring a folder landed in our mail boxes. “If Crisis or War Comes”. I remember a similar one from my cold war childhood. Pencil illustrations and easy to read information, the same feel to it. The folder got quiet a lot of attention abroad: is Sweden preparing for being attacked? And newly arrived refugees were scared by the drawings of military equipment and soldiers. Are we not safe here either?
You could claim we were naive disarming the defence when the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War was over. In 2018 it certainly feels that way. But you could also argue we were hopeful and optimistic. The threats were gone. Our skinny country wasn’t squeezed in-between Nato and the Soviet Union any more. Finally the world had turned to a better place. Humanity had grown mature and wise and it looked like Sweden did never again need a national defence.
But that’s just one part of the folder If Crises or War Comes which was produced by MSB, The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, on assignment from the Swedish Government. The government also found that it was important to open our eyes and make us prepare for different types of crises.
A crises could be such as a protracted power outage. IT-attacks. Circumstances in our outer environment causing lack of food and gas. Terror attacks. Climate change causing flooding and wild fires. For example.
The chart for home preparation has four headlines: food, water, heat (as in keeping your home and yourself warm) and communication. As for late May 2018 MSB had no reason for a fifth headline: cold. As in keeping your home and yourself cool in case of extreme warm temperatures.
Simply because due to our experiences and history it wasn’t on the Swedish map for crises. Just as a big earthquake wouldn’t be. If there was (or is) a similar folder on the US west coast, The Big One would be among the top five. And in the Northwest in pair with the awaited eruption of Mount Rainer.
Seattle children brings an earthquake kit to school for keeping in case of emergency. Trouble & Trouble had a little bag with pictures of mom and dad, a favourite stuffed animal and granola bars stacked with their friends kits at Valley School. In Sweden that might sound absurd. But the fact is, we prepare for what we know.
After this summer action plans for heat waves will happen. And the one good thing about the summer crises is that the consequences of climate change is now real to people and politicians. Except for the populistic party The Sweden Democrats which still is in total denial. Unfortunately today it looks like they will be the second largest party in Sweden.
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