France is dealing with its second major heatwave in less than a month. Right now, half the country is under red alert, with temperatures expected to soar to forty-three degrees Celsius in Bordeaux and thirty-nine degrees Celsius in Paris. According to Météo-France, the pattern is becoming unmistakable: of the fifty-one heatwaves recorded since nineteen forty-seven, two-thirds have occurred since two thousand. About half of those episodes happened in just the last fifteen years. As France grapples with this recurring crisis, the question shifts from whether heatwaves will return to how the country can best prepare.

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