There are more and more days of extreme heat. From Jakarta to Buenos Aires, the number of days with a temperature of 35º has increased by 52% in the last three decades in 20 of the most populated capitals in the world, revealed an analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development ( IIED ).
From 2014 to 2023 there were 6,500 accumulated days in which one of these two dozen cities reached a temperature of 35º, while in the decade from 1994 to 2003 there were only 4,755, concludes the study by the London institute, based on data on surface temperatures. from the weather stations of the respective airports.
Jakarta, Indonesia, stood out as having the largest absolute increase in the number of days when temperatures exceeded 35°C, rising from 28 days between 1994 and 2003 to 167 in the most recent decade. Seoul, South Korea, went from nine days to 58, while Buenos Aires went from seven days to 35, the study cited by Reuters news agency said.
This significant increase is due to the growing threat of climate change, researchers at this university reveal. group of experts who studied these capitals where 300 million people live.
But climate change leaves no safe zone, as the Climate Centre of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced in May, describing heat as a “phenomenon that kills slowly and in a less obvious way.”
A study by American Climate Central revealed that, in the last 12 months, each inhabitant will have lived through another 26 days of extreme heat compared to a scenario without climate change. Depending on geographic location, this number may be higher or lower.
According to IIED, these three hundred million people living in the world’s 20 largest capitals are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures, as asphalt and buildings easily absorb and retain heat. And give an example:
New Delhi, India’s capital and the world’s fourth most populous city with around 34.6 million inhabitants, recorded a record high of 47.8 degrees Celsius (104.2 degrees Fahrenheit). This temperature occurred during the worst heatwave ever to hit the country: it lasted more than three weeks and killed at least 62 people.
And that was not all: the temperature continued to rise and reached 51º. The threat of heat thus extended to the largest general elections in the world: those of India, which had 986 million voters. In April, during the second of the seven rounds of these elections, the Indian press warned of a possible lower participation due to the heat, which would have caused a drop of almost 4 points compared to the 2019 elections, registering a participation of 66% on the first return. And he even killed 33 election workers.
Although high temperatures did not threaten the elections, 34 people died of heatstroke in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The highest temperature in this country in 58 years was recorded: 42.6ºApril is normally the hottest month in Bangladesh. However, this year the heat was felt more intensely due to the absence of rain. In the slums, people faced these scorching temperatures without electricity or access to water. Schools were closed. Universities guaranteed remote classes and the streets were deserted.
During this time, the heat spread to other regions and countries such as Thailand, which issued an extreme heat wave warning. Temperatures exceeded 44º. Even with slightly lower values Between 35 and 40: Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippinesissued extreme heat alerts and asked the population to be careful and take precautions, such as drinking plenty of water. This increase in temperatures this year was greatly influenced by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Further north in Pakistan, temperatures in May reached 49C, eight degrees above the average for recent years. In Lahore, hundreds of people suffered from heatstroke and the state ambulance service began transporting bottled water and ice as emergency treatment.
May 2024 would have been the hottest month ever recorded worldwide, making it the 12th consecutive month to break its own record, according to the European Copernicus Observatory.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991, imprisoned in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where she is serving a 27-year sentence, was not indifferent to the high temperatures. Due to the scorching day 39, Suu Kyi along with other sick and elderly prisoners was transferred from prison.
There are no exceptions. Even pilgrims to Mecca were affected by the heat. Saudi Arabia revealed for the first time in years the number of deaths during the five- to six-day pilgrimage. At least 1,301 pilgrims They died because they did not have access to the necessary conditions to protect themselves and withstand the heat.
Already on the other side of the Atlantic, Climate change makes heat waves 35 times more likely. In Ecuador, instead of the 26 days mentioned, each inhabitant will have experienced another 170 days of extreme heat. In this country there were 180 days of extreme heat, which without climate change would have been only 10. A report by World Weather Attribution experts guarantees that, around the world, the heat It kills more people than hurricanes and floods..
Also in South America, a new record temperature of 34.2ºC was recorded in Mexico City in April, surpassing the temperature of 33.9ºC recorded in 1998. The heat wave killed 125 people. But not only that: the scorching heat killed 1,000 people. bookplate from the Tabasco jungle, the howler monkeys, which fell dead, “soft as towels,” from the trees.
Europe is not spared either. In Greece, the heat has already killed five people. Last week a fire broke out at the gates of Athens and last year the country stopped the the biggest fire ever seen registered in the European Union, active for at least six days and burning more than 760 square kilometers.
Even Portugal recorded the hottest January since 1941. Heat waves also caused an 18.9% increase in daily hospitalizations. And in May, the DGS recommended taking precautionary measures against the heat, which from what we can see, will become more and more frequent.
Source: Observadora
