{"id":89329,"date":"2024-07-07T03:17:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-07T03:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/07\/pakistan-withers-under-deadly-heat-and-fears-the-coming-rains\/"},"modified":"2024-07-07T03:17:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T03:17:09","slug":"pakistan-withers-under-deadly-heat-and-fears-the-coming-rains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/07\/pakistan-withers-under-deadly-heat-and-fears-the-coming-rains\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Withers Under Deadly Heat and Fears the Coming Rains"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/07\/07\/multimedia\/07pakistan-heat-01-gqkl\/07pakistan-heat-01-gqkl-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Pakistan Withers Under Deadly Heat and Fears the Coming Rains\" title=\"Pakistan Withers Under Deadly Heat and Fears the Coming Rains\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In nearly every corner of Karachi, there are signs of the heat wave scorching the sun-baked city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hundreds of patients suffering from heat-related illnesses pour into the hospitals every day, pushing them far past their capacity. Morgues overwhelmed by a surge in bodies are struggling to find space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Frustrated residents have begun blocking roads with stones and sticks to protest shortages of electricity and drinking water. Even the usually bustling markets and streets have emptied as people avoid leaving their homes unless they must.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Karachi, Pakistan\u2019s largest city and its economic hub, is the latest place to suffer as South Asia roasts under a blistering heat wave this summer, a brutal reminder of the deadly toll of climate change in a part of the world especially vulnerable to its effects, and in a country where ineffective governance and large economic disparities have magnified the sufferings of its poorest citizens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a particularly dire eight-day stretch late last month, temperatures reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), with high humidity adding to the misery. That was the hottest since 2015, a year when officials reported that more than 1,200 people died from heat-related causes in Karachi.<\/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\">With temperatures still hovering near 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the sense of crisis has persisted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt feels like living in a furnace,\u201d said Akbar Ali, 52, a rickshaw driver who has transported many heat-struck people to the hospital in recent weeks. \u201cIt\u2019s terrible seeing people collapse on the street.\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 port city on the Arabian Sea, Karachi is known for its hot summers and monsoon floods. Such extremes are particularly hard for the 60 percent of residents who live in the city\u2019s sprawling slums, where houses are shoddily made of concrete or tarps, and roads are unpaved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But this summer has been particularly bad. In the stretch of intense heat from June 23 to June 30, the city\u2019s largest morgue received about three times as many bodies as it does on a typical day, according to the Edhi Foundation, a charity known for its extensive morgue operations and large ambulance fleet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In all, the charity\u2019s morgues received around 700 bodies in those eight days. Though the cause of death was not clear in every case, the timing was suggestive.<\/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\">\u201cThis is a humanitarian crisis, but many heat wave-related deaths won\u2019t be officially recorded as heat deaths,\u201d said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/wooster.edu\/bio\/ehaider\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Erum Haider<\/a>, an academic at the College of Wooster who has studied Karachi\u2019s civic challenges. \u201cThey often get classified under \u2018fever,\u2019 \u2018heart attack,\u2019 or \u2018infant mortality,\u2019 which obscures the true impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent weeks, power outages in the slums have become frequent and prolonged, lasting from six to 16 hours a day. Without power, millions cannot use the electric fans that offer some relief (air-conditioning is rare). Frustration with the power cuts has prompted residents to regularly block major roads in protest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The outages are \u201ccatastrophic for everyone in these neighborhoods during a heat wave, but particularly for infants, the elderly and pregnant women,\u201d Ms. Haider said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Water has also become scarce. Many neighborhoods face severe water shortages, turning the lack of clean drinking water into a public health crisis. In Karachi, a significant portion of the population relies on purchasing water from private companies through tankers, as the city\u2019s water infrastructure fails to meet the needs of all its residents. During the summer, even areas that typically receive piped water are compelled to buy water because of shortages. Skyrocketing prices for water tankers are adding to the burden of already struggling communities.<\/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\">\u201cThe cost of water tankers has doubled or even tripled,\u201d said Mehmood Siddiqui, a private-school teacher, whose monthly salary is $143. \u201cThey\u2019re now charging $28 for a tanker of water that cost $14 just last month. It\u2019s outrageous.\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\">Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering from heatstroke and severe dehydration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPatients are reporting symptoms like high fever, weakness, gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhea in numbers far exceeding normal,\u201d said Nasreen Gul, a nurse at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, the city\u2019s largest state-run hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Government officials have sought to play down reports of large-scale heat wave fatalities. Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi, citing data from government hospitals, suggested that the number of deaths related to the heat was minimal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Government officials have established cooling centers across the city. Charitable organizations are also providing some relief to residents, setting up roadside camps to offer water misting as well as glasses of cool water or <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/07\/business\/india-drink-rooh-afza.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare&amp;sgrp=c-cb\" title=\"\">Rooh Afza<\/a>, a popular summer beverage in South Asia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rain last Thursday brought relief to Karachi after the midday temperature peaked at 104 degrees Fahrenheit. But it highlighted the city\u2019s vulnerability to the summer\u2019s other major weather problem: devastating floods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe can pray for rain to cool the weather,\u201d said Ali Afzal, 44, a car mechanic in Karachi whose house was demolished in the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/24\/world\/asia\/pakistan-monsoon-floods.html\" title=\"\">July 2022 urban flooding<\/a> caused by heavy rains. \u201cBut more rain poses another challenge, especially for city residents ill prepared to handle it.\u201d<\/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\/07\/06\/world\/asia\/pakistan-heat-wave.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In nearly every corner of Karachi, there are signs of the heat wave scorching the sun-baked city. Hundreds of patients suffering from heat-related illnesses pour into the hospitals every day, pushing them far past their capacity. Morgues overwhelmed by a surge in bodies are struggling to find space. Frustrated residents have begun blocking roads with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89330,"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\/07\/07\/multimedia\/07pakistan-heat-01-gqkl\/07pakistan-heat-01-gqkl-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6731,11100,2622,1029,264,30766,77147],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89329"}],"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=89329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89331,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89329\/revisions\/89331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}