The disasters brought on by this year’s heat wave in places like Somalia and Pakistan portend more common and fatal humanitarian crises in the future, claims the research.
In the research, it is claimed that there are specific heat-related thresholds beyond which individuals cannot “survive” and that civilizations can seldom ever adapt to extremely high heat levels.
The two organisations also stated in a report that due to the current state of the climate, heat waves may eventually cross or even surpass the “physiological and social boundaries” of a person and “cause wide suffering and the loss of lives,” especially in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, South Asia, and Southwest Asia.
According to the analysis, this year’s heat wave disasters in nations like Somalia and Pakistan foreshadow more regular and fatal humanitarian crises in the future.
According to the paper, there are definite thresholds beyond which people who are subjected to excessive heat and dampness cannot “survive,” and there are extreme heat levels to which civilizations can hardly ever adjust.
In the future decades, he cautioned, the combined effects of ageing, climate change, and urbanisation may result in a material rise in the number of people at risk in developing nations.
According to the analysis, the number of deaths from excessive heat projected in the future is startlingly large when compared to the total number of deaths expected from all cancer kinds and all infectious diseases by the turn of the century.
According to Martin Griffiths, head of the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs Coordination, the most vulnerable individuals are those who experience severe weather disasters like heat waves and floods.
Jagan Shabagin, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, urged nations that will attend the Conference of the Parties on the Climate “COP 27” in Egypt from November 7–18, 2022, to make investments in adaptation to climate change and efforts to lessen its effects in the majority of vulnerable areas.
Since it has been established by scientific evidence that humanitarian activity since the Industrial Revolution and up to the present has caused, and continues to cause, severe harm to all countries, societies, and sectors of economic activity, which necessitates an urgent collective move towards reducing emissions, the issue of climate change is also at the forefront of the challenges currently facing the world. Work is being done in parallel with climate change to adapt to its unfavourable effects.
Major initiatives have been proposed by the International Federation of Cross and Red Crescent Associations and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to help tackle the extreme heat waves, including.
To enable people and authorities respond quickly, we should do two things: 1- Provide early information; and 2- Discover innovative ways to fund local procedures.
3- Humanitarian organisations put more “thermally appropriate” shelters and “cooling centres” to the test in emergency scenarios. 4- Local communities are urged to alter their development plans in order to account for the anticipated effects of the extreme heat.
The Red Cross and the United Nations have issued warnings that the growing frequency of heat waves may make it impossible for some regions of the world to survive in the upcoming years.
The two organisations also stated in a report that due to the current state of the climate, heat waves may eventually cross or even surpass the “physiological and social boundaries” of a person and “cause wide suffering and the loss of lives,” especially in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, South Asia, and Southwest Asia.
According to experts, this year’s heat wave tragedies in nations like Somalia and Pakistan presage more fatal and regular humanitarian crises in the future.
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