The heat

Heat waves, fueled by climate change, are tough on wild animals, too. Lucky for them, they have beavers, whose dams help cool the water and air.

Instead of just relying on human-made technologies and infrastructure, we can also restore species like beavers to the landscape. That’s because turning water into vapor requires energy, and some of that energy comes from the heat in the air, Fairfax said. In one recent study, scientists relocated 69 beavers to a river basin in northwestern Washington state, and found that, on average, their dams cooled the streams by more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2.3 Celsius) during certain times of the year. Beavers are very much wildlife heroes in a warming world, and we’d be wise to follow the example they set. Dams can deepen streams, and deeper layers of water tend to be cooler. Dams also help force cold groundwater to the surface. There’s one obvious benefit that comes from beaver dams flooding the landscape with water: Wet things don’t burn as easily. And these animals can help as we try to adapt to a hotter world, Fairfax said. In the last two weeks, an oppressive heat wave has been roasting much of the US and Europe, putting both humans and wildlife at risk. They not only drench certain landscapes in cold water but also help cool the air. And there are still two months of summer left. Temperatures in parts of Oklahoma and Texas hit 115 degrees.