2023-07-19 13:29:32
In an alert, the UN agency highlighted heat waves as among the deadliest natural hazards and WMO Senior Heat Adviser John Nairn told reporters that extreme temperatures are set to increase in frequency, duration and intensity.
“Repeated high nighttime temperatures are particularly dangerous to human health because the body is unable to recover from sustained heat,” he said. “This leads to an increase in cases of heart attacks and deaths.”
Impact mortar
According to a recent report by the UN agency, an additional 60,000 people died from extreme heat in Europe last summer – despite the continent’s robust early warning and health response plans.
The WMO said there was an urgent need to adapt infrastructure to withstand prolonged high temperatures and educate vulnerable people regarding the risks.
The agency also warned of the increased risk of death from heat waves in Asia, North Africa and the United States.
“Heat is a rapidly growing health risk due to increased or rapid urbanization, rising temperature extremes and aging populations,” Nairn said.
According to the WMO, this year’s widespread and intense heat waves are alarming – but not unexpected – as they are in line with forecasts.
The scorching conditions “are not the normal weather systems of the past” and are “the consequence of climate change”, Mr Nairn insisted. “We’re losing the ice from the North Pole and that’s strengthening that mechanism and that’s going to continue for a while.”
The WMO expert added that the “recently declared El Niño” weather phenomenon is only expected to amplify the occurrence and intensity of extreme heat events, which will have quite severe impacts on human health and livelihoods.
A little boy tries to escape the heat in Viet Nam.
Unseen emergency
Describing the heat wave as an “invisible emergency”, Panu Saaristo, Team Leader of the Emergency Health Unit of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said it was crucial to watch over vulnerable people due to their poor health, but also to take into account socio-economic and living conditions, “which can also induce risks”.
Low-income neighborhoods in European cities are currently the most affected, he added, noting that heat waves “also impact other areas of society through reduced economic output, strained health systems and even power outages”.
The WMO stressed that worldwide more intense and extreme heat is unavoidable and it is imperative to prepare and adapt as many cities, homes and workplaces are not built to withstand prolonged high temperatures.
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