Can we get as good at heat as we are at snow?

We know how to do snow around here. Like cranberries and cod, it’s part of the brand. But can we New Englanders be just as hardy when it comes to extreme heat? Come winter, and that first snowstorm, we’ll know exactly what to do.

Press conferences by fleece-vested electeds, updates from over-excited weather reporters, and scrolling TV warnings will have us on high alert. We’ll stock up on ice melt and sliced bread as if the world is ending. We’ll dust off our boots and dig out our shovels.

We’ll hunker down and stay warm, check on vulnerable neighbors, and allow extra time for our commutes. We’ve got this. Now, can we do the same for heatwaves? In case you haven’t noticed, Massachusetts is getting hotter.

We’ve already seen a bunch of 90-plus degree days here, and we’re going to see a lot more of them, thanks to climate change. As my colleague Sabrina Shankman has pointed out , even in a best-case scenario, Boston’s summers will be as warm as Baltimore’s later this century. And if we don’t get a grip on our emissions, we’ll be Memphis.

Brian Swett, Boston’s super aptly-named Chief Climate officer, says we could get as many as 90 days over 90-degrees each summer by 2070 . Advertisement We aren’t built for this. We literally aren’t built for this.

Our old buildings are designed to retain heat, not provide relief from it. We are good at heating, but relatively few homes and schools have air conditioning. Our roofs and roads and transit systems mag.