As tennis players, athletes and others sweat their way through the humid Tokyo heat in pursuit of Olympic medals, and wildfires paint the skies orange across Europe, it's been a week for contemplating the impacts of hotter temperatures around the globe.

Japan's heat and humidity - where temperatures can exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) - show how future Games will need to grapple with extremes as climate change bites, experts told our correspondent Beh Lih Yi.

"Tokyo 2020 will serve as a model for future hotter Olympics and other summer sporting competitions," said Yuri Hosokawa of Japan's Waseda University.

Tennis world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev said a player "can die" in the heat stifling Tokyo, while the sports' governing body agreed to delay match start times in response to similar complaints.

Organisers have deployed a host of tools - from mist-spraying stations to cooling vests and a cloud-based system to monitor workers' real-time conditions and send warnings and advice at signs of danger through earpieces.

In Colombia, its second-largest city of Medellin, with about 2.5 million people, has put in place an award-winning "green corridors" project to create cooling public spaces, funded and led by city hall.

An interconnected 20-km (12.4-mile) network of shady routes includes new bike lanes and walkways across the city, while tens of thousands of native trees, tropical plants, bamboo and palms have been planted along sidewalks, riverbanks and roads, as well as in squares and parks.

The project has reduced temperatures and air pollution, and provides residents with comfortable places to work, travel and meet.

"It's about bringing nature back to citizens," said Johan Londoño, Medellin's interim environment secretary.

In Iran, authorities have been struggling to deal with the social effects of an overdose of heat and drought, which has led to water shortages and power outages, sparking public protests.

Ali Mirchi, an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, said Iran's water supply is dwindling because of climate change and poor policymaking, while demand is rising - and warns the country "is headed towards water bankruptcy".

The streets are also seeing a return of climate-driven demonstrations in Europe ahead of November's key COP26 climate summit.

At the weekend, climate activists blocked gas plants in Germany and Scotland and protested shale gas fracking plans in several countries.

And the Extinction Rebellion group has said it will launch two weeks of actions against new fossil fuel investments in London next month, while the Fridays For Future student movement has called a global school strike for Sept. 24.

The political heat is likely to hit boiling point ahead of COP26, with only 110 countries out of the nearly 200 that signed the Paris climate accord submitting stronger emissions-cutting pledges so far and a key climate science report due out Monday set to sound the alarm on accelerating climate risks.

We'll see you next week!

Megan

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