The United Nations on Tuesday called on the world to prepare for stronger heatwaves, urging individuals to develop their own “fight plans” to withstand extreme temperatures day and night.
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“These phenomena will continue to intensify and the world must prepare for even more intense heat waves,” said John Nairn, expert at the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), during a press conference regularly held in Geneva.
“The recently proclaimed El Niño phenomenon will only increase the occurrence and intensity of extreme heat waves,” he said.
Temperatures will exceed 40°C for several days this week in North America, Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean.
“One of the remarkable phenomena we have observed is that the number of simultaneous heat waves in the northern hemisphere has increased six-fold since the 1980s. This trend shows no sign of abating,” Nairn noted.
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“I am therefore afraid that we are not at the end of our difficulties,” he added, stressing that “it is everyone’s responsibility to have plans in place to combat the extreme heat”.
According to experts, greenhouse gases that store heat are the cause of climate change.
Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide play a crucial role in preventing some of the sun’s radiation from being reflected back into space.
When this cycle is in balance, the temperature on the planet remains bearable.
But an unsustainable increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means more heat is being stored there, leading not only to global warming but other climate anomalies as well.
night temperatures
In the case of heat waves, climate change extends their duration, intensity and also their geographical range, the scientists say.
When asked what individuals could personally do to fight climate change, Mr Nairn called for a fight against fossil fuels.
“I think the simplest thing is to electrify everything. It’s a simple message. It’s about stopping carbon-based fuels,” he said.
As thermometers break or approach record highs, the WMO is urging the international community to look beyond the maximum temperatures.
“It’s actually night-time temperatures that pose the greatest health risk, particularly for vulnerable populations,” Nairn explained.
He explained that in many places where the maximum temperature reaches or exceeds 40 °C, the temperature remains close to these values even at midnight.
However, “repeatedly high nighttime temperatures are particularly dangerous for human health because the body does not recover”, the expert emphasized, which “results in an increase in heart attacks and deaths”.
There is no one-size-fits-all definition of heatwaves, which are set in terms of average temperatures for each region of the world, which normally vary significantly.
But the WMO is developing “standardized terminologies and definitions” for extreme heat, it said on Tuesday: “Categorizing the intensity of heat waves will help standardize forecasts for the effects and warnings around the world.”