Good morning, Boston, and congratulations to Big Papi. Here are the five most important things you need to know to start your very hot Monday.
Heat emergency continues
Following yesterday's record-high temperatures, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has extended the city's heat emergency protocols through today.
Big week for the markets
The busiest, and possibly the most important, week of the summer for the public markets is here, with the Federal Reserve expected to deliver another three-quarter point rate hike and major companies scheduled to release earnings.
Join the BBJ for an afternoon of networking and panel discussions on Biotech Talent, Real Estate and Funding. Register today.
Is happy hour making a comeback?
Nearly four decades after Massachusetts lawmakers banned happy hour statewide, a local option could return the early sales option to restaurants and bars if the state Senate has its way.
Crane Watch, north of Boston
In the latest edition of Crane Watch, in this week's print edition, the Business Journal takes a closer look at the commercial real estate and construction projects under way north and just to the west of Boston, in the area between Route 128 and the Mass Pike.
Sand sculptures
Despite record-high heat, visitors walked the sidewalks along Revere Beach this weekend to see the sand sculptures that marked the International Sand Sculpting Festival.
What else you need to know
By the numbers
- 4.8% — expected growth in second-quarter earnings among public companies in the S&P 500
- 15% — workforce at fitness tracker company Whoop Inc. to be laid off, Lucy Maffei reports.
- 71 — age of biotech pioneer Henri Termeer when he died in 2017. His widow, Belinda Termeer, is scheduled to accept this year's Biotech in Boston Lifetime Achievement Award on Aug. 4
Weekend box office
Jordan Peele’s Nope opened at No. 1 this weekend, with $44 million in sales
This day in history
On this day in 1956, the ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with a Swedish ship off the coast of Nantucket
A Vineyard retreat
For the first time in 50 years, a 50-acre property in West Tisbury formerly owned by Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham is up for sale — for $39.5 million.
What I'm watching
What We Do In The Shadows, Season 4, on Hulu
What I'm reading
Less, by Andrew Sean Greer
What I’m listening to
Burning, by Maggie Rogers
What to do about heat islands
Boston hit a record-high 100 degrees yesterday. I know this firsthand because I was among those walking along the concrete boardwalk at Revere Beach to see the sand sculptures (you can see the photos below), and, well, it was freaking hot.
If we aren’t talking about urban heat islands now, we never will.
It’s a real thing, and it hurts those who live in cities the most. Exposure to extreme heat has tripled since the 1980s in more than 13,000 cities worldwide.
The president of the United States himself was in Massachusetts and Rhode Island last week talking about extreme heat and climate change.
But it doesn’t take much to combat urban heat islands. The city of Chelsea, for example, is a great example of the many types of cooling strategies that cities can do — all on one city block: The Cool Block project is planting trees, ripping up sidewalks to add planters, porous pavers and white concrete, and replacing dark asphalt with lighter colors.
Phoenix, meanwhile, is one of the hottest U.S. cities, and it, too, has a cool pavement program. By painting a gray coating on asphalt streets, it has reduced roadway temperatures by 10.5 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Scientific American.
With temperatures as high as they were this weekend, and the brownouts that accompanied them, it’s time we looked at every solution possible for the urban heat island problem.
PARTING SHOT
See the sand sculptures at Revere Beach:
The Revere Beach Partnership has held annual sand sculpting festival for 18 years at the nation’s first public beach. This year’s theme is “Wonders of the World."
