Kristofer Ahlström: I used to long for summer – now it's associated with extreme heat anxiety

The oppressive heatwave gripping Sweden has transformed the landscape into a "Dali painting," with everything and everyone appearing limp and listless. Even the cooling breeze offers no respite, feeling like a warm exhalation, and the skin feels uncomfortably tight.

Seeking relief in the water, a common summer activity, proves futile as large sections of Lake Mälaren are choked with toxic algae. Maps from the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management show numerous red "stop signs" at popular swimming spots. Despite this, the author heads to the pier, only to find the water's edge thick with a moss-colored sludge.

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It's like living in a Dali painting. Everything becomes soft, limp, and drooping; both people and dogs seem to have lost their skeletons.

Frustrated calls to environmental authorities reveal that the warm water, combined with decades of nutrient pollution, has caused the algal blooms. The author recalls that last year the warm Mälaren posed a threat to the drinking water supply. The heat also affects the author's young child, who develops a fever from the stress of the high temperatures.

The article criticizes the politicization of heatwaves, particularly targeting politician Lars Beckman. Beckman, described as part of the "right-wing Twitter ecosystem," blamed media fear-mongering for public anxiety about the heat. He reminisced about a time when weather forecasts were delivered with "joy" and "normal weather maps." However, the author counters that personal memories are poor substitutes for climate science, noting that days over 25 degrees Celsius were rare in the early 2000s but are now common.

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Come on remember the old days with John Pohlman on SVT who with joy in his voice and normal weather maps told when the few days came to Sweden with summer heat?