The heat wave end that crossed Asia and middle East in late April was 45 times more likely in some parts of the continent due to climate change caused by humans, according to a study published Tuesday.
The scorching temperatures were felt across wide swaths of Asia, from Gaza in the west — where more than 2 million people suffer from shortages of drinking water, lack of medical care and other critical problems in the context of Israeli bombings — to the Philippines in the southeast, with many parts of the continent recording temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for several consecutive days.
The study was published by World Weather Attribution, a group of scientists that uses established climate models to quickly determine whether human-caused climate change contributed to extreme weather events around the planet.
In the Philippines, scientists found that the heat was so intense that it could not have occurred without human-caused climate change. In some parts of the Middle East, climate change increased the likelihood of extreme heat five-fold.
“There were people who suffered and died when temperatures soared in April in Asia,” said Friederike Otto, study author and climatologist at Imperial College London. ““If humans continue burning fossil fuels, the climate will continue to warm and vulnerable people will continue to die.”
In April, at least 28 people died due to heat in Bangladesh, as well as five in India and three in Gaza. An increase in heat-related deaths has also been reported this year in Thailand and the Philippines, according to the study.
The heat also had a great impact on agriculture, causing damage to crops and lower yields. In addition to this, education has been affected, since it has been necessary to extend school holidays and several countries have been forced to close schools, which has affected thousands of students.
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Source: Gestion
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