{"id":80996,"date":"2024-06-25T16:58:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T16:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/25\/heat-is-killing-thousands-and-big-events-have-not-adjusted\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T16:58:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T16:58:15","slug":"heat-is-killing-thousands-and-big-events-have-not-adjusted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/25\/heat-is-killing-thousands-and-big-events-have-not-adjusted\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat Is Killing Thousands, and Big Events Have Not Adjusted"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/25\/multimedia\/00climate-events-01-cvzp\/00climate-events-01-cvzp-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Heat Is Killing Thousands, and Big Events Have Not Adjusted\" title=\"Heat Is Killing Thousands, and Big Events Have Not Adjusted\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At large events all over the world, the scenes of extreme heat stress are starting to look familiar. Older men, shirts undone, lying down with their eyes closed. Aid tents packed with the unconscious. And lines of the faithful \u2014 whether they seek religion, music, ballot boxes or sport \u2014 sweating under slivers of shade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The consequences have been dire. At this year\u2019s hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, at least <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/24\/world\/europe\/hajj-mecca-explainer.html\" title=\"\">1,300 people died<\/a> as temperatures surpassed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And in many ways, that heavy toll was just the latest sign that crowd control and heat waves fueled by climate change are on a dangerous collision course.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/news-event\/india-election\" title=\"\">India\u2019s recent election<\/a>, dozens of poll workers died on the job. Last summer, troops of Boy Scouts visiting South Korea for a jubilee <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/05\/world\/asia\/scout-jamboree-heat-wave-south-korea.html\" title=\"\">became sick<\/a> from heat, as did others at music festivals in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2024\/mar\/26\/pitch-music-festival-2024-how-it-descended-into-chaos-and-confusion\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Australia<\/a>, Europe and North America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/21\/climate\/heat-deaths-floods-drought.html\" title=\"\">heat kills more people today<\/a> than any other extreme weather event, there is still a dangerous cultural lag. Many major-event organizers and attendees are still behind the climate curve, failing to contend with just how much a warming planet has elevated the risk to summer crowds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAs the warm seasons get longer, as the heat waves come earlier, we\u2019re going to have to adapt,\u201d said Benjamin Zaitchik, a climate scientist at Johns Hopkins University who studies health-damaging climate events. Along with personal behavior, he added, infrastructure, emergency management and social calendars must \u201creally acknowledge this new reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Among the many low-tech ways to prevent sickness and death are shade, water stations, sidewalks painted white to reflect heat and emergency health services to treat severe cases of heatstroke. Some hot and innovative places, like Singapore, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2023\/09\/18\/world\/asia\/singapore-heat.html\" title=\"\">have constructed public spaces uniting the outdoors with the indoors<\/a>. They have added air-conditioning to areas where people might have to spend time waiting, such as bus stops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The hardest fix of all may be one that is also in some ways the simplest: educating ordinary people about the risks of heat, including those who are accustomed to living in hot places. Often, they are unaware of the early symptoms of heat stress or how high temperatures are especially dangerous for people with pre-existing health conditions, like kidney disease or hypertension. Even medicines, such as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/journals\/public-health\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2022.957576\/full\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">anticholinergic drugs<\/a>, that treat allergies or asthma can accelerate problems by restricting sweat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHeat is a very, very complex and sneaky killer,\u201d said Tarik Benmarhnia, an environmental epidemiologist and associate professor at University of California, San Diego. \u201cIt\u2019s very silent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A religious pilgrimage can be the trickiest of all events. Devotees of many faiths \u2014 Christians <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.khmertimeskh.com\/34382\/two-dead-hundreds-hurt-in-philippines-religious-festival\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in the Philippines<\/a>; Hindus <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/cities\/kolkata-news\/3-die-125-fall-sick-due-to-heat-exhaustion-at-religious-fair-in-bengal-101655035854332.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in India<\/a>; Muslims in Saudi Arabia \u2014 have died from heatstroke in the past few years during religious rituals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the hajj carries perhaps the gravest level of danger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The entire Arabian Peninsula is hot and warming fast, with nighttime temperatures also rising, stealing away the hours when the body usually cools down. Hajj takes place over five or six days, compounding heat exposure in the holy city of Mecca. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The hajj calendar is also set by the lunar cycle, so the scheduled times for the journey could be the hottest, as was the case this year. And because pilgrims tend to be disproportionately old, they are more vulnerable to the effects of intense heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Benmarhnia shuddered when he heard the news of this year\u2019s hajj deaths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI thought this could have happened to my grandmother,\u201d he said by telephone Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He had paid for her trip to Mecca in 2019. She was 75 years old, but, thankfully, he said, she went on a smaller pilgrimage during a cooler time, in April. With the death toll this year, he suggested that heat experts use what happened to quickly devise adaptation strategies with religious authorities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Saudi Ministry of Health had introduced educational campaigns urging people to stay hydrated and use umbrellas. Officials set up field hospitals and water stations. They deployed thousands of paramedics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was not nearly enough for a surge of millions, including many who sidestepped national quotas meant to limit the crowd size. And Saudi Arabia has faced criticism over the deaths for its handling of the pilgrimage.<\/p>\n<p>India\u2019s election this year demonstrated that even in places where people think they are accustomed to heat, much more awareness is needed on the dangers of extreme heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Bihar, at least 14 people died by the end of May, and at least 10 of them were polling personnel, according to the state\u2019s disaster relief officials. At one point in June, nearly <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/heatwave-crisis-looms-over-odisha-54-suspected-deaths-in-48-hours-9366480\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">100 people died within 72 hours<\/a> in Odisha in cases suspected to be linked to heat conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Health officials in India have had to prepare. Inside heatstroke units in Delhi hospitals, patients were immediately immersed in an ice-filled submersion tub to bring down their temperatures. In a ward equipped with an ice-making refrigerator, ice boxes and ventilators, critical patients were immediately placed on slabs of ice and injected with cold fluids.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But in many areas, heat waves and voting peaked around the same time \u2014 including in the Aurangabad district of Bihar, home to some three million people, where temperatures approached a desultory 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in late May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ravi Bhushan Srivastava, the chief medical officer at a government hospital, was on his way to assess the daily post-mortem reports on one particularly bad day, when 60 patients were admitted for heatstroke.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAt least 35 to 40 were in a bad condition,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were either unconscious, in altered consciousness, with very hot bodies and having trouble breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI have never seen patients with symptoms of heatstroke in such large numbers and with such intensity in my entire career,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Election rallies can be particularly vulnerable, because of the large crowds they involve. But there, too, are plenty of viable solutions. Aditya Valiathan Pillai, an adaptation specialist with the Sustainable Futures Collaborative, a research organization in Delhi, said attendees should be able to see real-time local temperatures, with color-coded risk levels. Water stations, shade and cooling centers can be set up. Not least, public agencies should pull out the stops with earning warnings about heat. \u201cWe now have heat wave forecasts that are pretty accurate five days out,\u201d Mr. Pillai said, \u201cso this sort of advance awareness building is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sporting events have already been adapting to the dangers of extreme heat. Water breaks for players were introduced during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when the combination of heat, humidity and sun exposure <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/fifpro.org\/en\/supporting-players\/health-and-performance\/extreme-weather-and-climate-change\/extreme-weather-in-football\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">led to a temperature of 89.6 degrees<\/a> Fahrenheit. Officials moved the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from the summer months to November and December, when it is cooler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Paris Olympics seems to be seeking some sort of balance. Some events, like the marathon, are starting earlier in the day, and water stations are supposed to be available for patrons. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMega events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup have a duty of care to all who attend,\u201d said Madeleine Orr, a professor at the University of Toronto and the author of the book \u201cWarming Up: How Climate Change Is Changing Sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019re talking about hydration breaks and cooling breaks,\u201d she added, \u201copportunities for athletes and officials to access cooling towels and some shade or misting fans, and medical staff on standby to step in should somebody need additional care.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For now, that may be enough. Many experts say that more radical shifts may need to follow. The Summer Olympics might have to become the Autumn Olympics. Similarly, elections in India may be pushed to cooler months, along with international tennis tournaments. School holidays could be rescheduled for weather. Summer jobs like painting houses may become spring jobs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">David Bowman, a climate scientist in Tasmania who <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2020-01-06\/bushfire-season-holidays-converge-goodbye-typical-summer\/11843312\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote an article<\/a> that attracted wide attention online during Australia\u2019s 2020 bush fires calling for the end of the summer school holidays, said that people were already beginning to adapt in small ways. Umbrellas are becoming fashionable accessories for shade, shorts are becoming more acceptable at work and road workers are doing more at night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Climate change could force big events to change even more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAll these disasters are like a cultural climate change price signal,\u201d he said. \u201cSure, we can be stubborn and press on regardless of a changing climate \u2014 but, in the end, the climate will win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Suhasini Raj<!-- --> contributed reporting from New Delhi, and <!-- -->Pablo Robles<!-- --> from Seoul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/25\/world\/australia\/record-heat-deaths-events.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At large events all over the world, the scenes of extreme heat stress are starting to look familiar. Older men, shirts undone, lying down with their eyes closed. Aid tents packed with the unconscious. And lines of the faithful \u2014 whether they seek religion, music, ballot boxes or sport \u2014 sweating under slivers of shade. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/25\/multimedia\/00climate-events-01-cvzp\/00climate-events-01-cvzp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43331,995,5843,1029,4373,57],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80998,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80996\/revisions\/80998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}