BİRLEŞMİŞ MİLLETLER (TURKISH JOURNAL) – Pia Bozyel – The World Meteorological Organization, citing heatwaves among the deadliest natural hazards, drew attention to the importance of early health warnings and action plan to prevent heat related deaths.
The Geneva based organization published a written statement regarding the issue.
“Situation alarming”
Citing that “global temperatures have been at unprecedented levels for several weeks”, the WMO considered the situation to be alarming.
Referring to a new study published last week, WMO iterated that only in Europe, 60 thousand people lost their lives due to extreme heat last year.
“Heat is a rapidly growing health risk”
WMO, while making reference to ageing populations and urbanization as important factors, warned “heat is a rapidly growing health risk”.
Underlining the importance of response strategies and communication plans, WMO added that especially vulnerable groups require protection.
Drawing attention to the fact that increasing tempratures and heat waves around the globe are unavoidable, WMO extreme heat advisor John Nairn said, “We need the world to broaden its attention beyond the maximum temperature alone. In many locations where the maximum is reaching into the high 40°Cs and higher, the temperature may still be near 40°C at midnight. In these circumstances, the minimum temperature is more important for health and failing critical infrastructure during extreme heatwaves.”
Nairn emphasized the importance of “preparing and adapting”.
WMO, has an “Early Warnings for All Initiative” that aims to deploy impact-based warning.
