The Wire with Castor

Europe and the eastern half of the United States are currently experiencing an intense heatwave. 

This heatwave is caused by a strong high-pressure weather pattern, or otherwise known as an anticyclone or a "heat dome”. This traps a large amount of hot air, which then sinks to the ground. It brings with it dry and sunny days. 

The current anticyclone has been stuck in place for roughly two weeks. With the trapped air absorbing more heat on the daily. 

Heatwaves are considered the most dangerous type of weather event, with an approximated TWENTY THOUSAND heat related deaths in Europe alone. 

The eastern half of the United States has also seen some extreme consequences from the heat, with at least TWENTY FIVE deaths confirmed over this weekend. The extreme heat has also coincided with Independence Day celebrations, prompting warnings that such hot and dry conditions could increase the risk of wildfires in some places.

Heatwaves to this extent aren’t caused purely by weather but are driven by global warming and climate change.

To learn more about this heatwave, its causes and what we can do about it. Producer Jude spoke to distinguished scholar and scientist, Dr Kevin Trenberth.

The fast-track application for the Northwest Busway project has been halted over a dispute between Auckland Council and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

Funding could be paused for the business association Heart of the City following mass resignations from the organisation and calls for an audit.

And Mayor Wayne Brown says underestimated disaster recovery costs are partly to blame for Auckland's higher rates this year. 

For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden asked Councillor Shane Henderson about all of these topics.

A new study looking into the best ways to recover from multi-pronged nicotine addiction has just been launched.

While typical addiction recovery methods include weaning off a product or using a lighter dosage, this study looks into a new drug, cytisine, which can help reduce nicotine addiction. This study aims to find the most effective way for people to make a clean break from nicotine dependence.

To discuss the drug, addiction recovery, and what this study could mean more broadly, Producer Pranuja spoke to author Professor Chris Bullen from the University of Auckland.

Last week, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced that the government would be removing a clause from the Conservation Amendment Bill that permitted expanding the sale of conservation land. The decision followed multiple weeks of pressure from members of the public, environmental activists, and political parties, who claimed that the change would open pathways to selling large portions of Aotearoa’s natural landscapes. 

Earlier this month also saw the government backtrack on another bill, the Fisheries Amendment Bill. Among other changes, the bill would have reduced restrictions on overfishing and disallowed members of the public from accessing footage from shipping vessels. 

Lastly, recent polls have seen centre-left political party Opportunity polling close to or above 5%. With Opportunity spending much of its campaign period targeting the Green Party, it’s unclear what a coalition between the two could look like. 

For this week’s catch-up with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez March, News Director Castor asked about each of these issues, beginning with the Conservation Amendment Bill.