Today as I write this, ten days before publication, yellow heat health alerts are in place for most of England, with daytime temperatures set to reach 30oC. These alerts will remain in place for the next four days. A yellow warning means that the conditions could pose a risk to people who are particularly vulnerable. It is possible that some areas could reach the Met Office’s official heat wave criteria.
But while we may suffer mildly, other parts of the world are experiencing catastrophic heat. The US is facing an emergency, with more than 100 million people under heat warnings, and cities on the East Coast bracing for record-breaking temperatures as the heat dome causing the dangerous conditions swells to the West Coast and to Mexico. A study last week found that this killer heatwave was made 5 times more likely because of climate change.
Northern India has endured a scorching summer, with one part of Delhi reaching 49.9oC in late May, the capital’s highest temperature on record, and night-time temperatures cooling insufficiently for people without air conditioning to recover from the brutal days. In consequence dozens of bodies were discovered over two extreme days last week.
Tourist deaths, including that of Dr Michael Moseley, have been reported in Greece and Italy as temperatures have soared above 40oC. ‘There is a common pattern – they all went for a hike amid high temperatures,’ Petros Vassilakis, the police spokesman for the Southern Aegean, told Reuters.
Neighbouring Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro and Croatia – have not escaped, with simultaneous power cuts lasting several hours caused by surging demand for power from air conditioning.
The most lethal heat, however, has been in Saudi Arabia where, as I write, the government news agency has confirmed at least 1,300 deaths during the Hajj – the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. With temperatures over 50oC nearly half a million pilgrims have been treated for the heat. However, with many unregistered and, therefore, without access to air conditioned transport and tents, over 80% of the deaths have been amongst those without permits.
All this is in the context of the planet’s string of record-breaking temperatures which have continued for a full year, with May marking the twelfth consecutive month for which its average temperature set a new record for that month. In total, the global average temperature for the last 12 months was the highest on record, at 1.63oC above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, according to new data from Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service.
While all this may sound depressing it doesn’t have to be so: it galvanises me. If you want to join us in response to this piece please contact us at sustainablekeswick@gmail.com.
Joe Human
Sustainable Keswick
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