Sept 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations' first global chief heat officer called on Wednesday for political leaders to make firm commitments at November's COP28 climate meeting to stem rapidly rising temperatures in cities, particularly in poorer countries. "In July, we had these crazy heat domes in almost all of the Northern Hemisphere." "It really felt like something was different, it felt like a turning point," Myrivili, the former chief heat officer for Athens, said. Myrivili and national chief heat officers around the world are focused on measures like bringing nature into cities and employing mitigation techniques such as the white reflecting asphalt introduced in Phoenix, Arizona. There are a lot of countries that have a lot of informal housing, a lot of informal labour and a lot of poverty, and that's where heat becomes the real killer."

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Persons: Eleni Myrivili, Myrivili, Remo Casilli, I'm, Jane Wardell, Alison Williams Organizations: United Nations, Reuters IMPACT, Northern, Fontana, Fontana della Barcaccia, Spagna, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: London, Athens, Fontana della, Italy, Rome, generalities, Phoenix , Arizona