World must prepare for more intense heatwaves

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World must prepare for more intense heatwaves

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Environment

July 19

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The United Nations issued a warning on Tuesday that the world should brace itself for increasingly

, as countries in the Northern Hemisphere grappled with soaring temperatures. Health authorities across North America, Europe, and Asia have raised the alarm, urging people to stay hydrated and seek shelter from the scorching sun, serving as .

John Nairn, a senior extreme heat advisor at the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO), emphasized that these events will continue to escalate in intensity, stressing the need for

in the face of more severe heatwaves. Heatwaves rank among the deadliest natural disasters, causing hundreds of thousands of preventable heat-related deaths each year. Nairn cautioned that the health risks associated with heatwaves are rapidly increasing due to urbanization, rising temperature extremes, and aging populations. In the short term, he highlighted that the recently declared El Niño, that causes warming every two to seven years, is expected to heighten the occurrence and intensity of extreme heat events. However, irrespective of El Niño, the trend remains clear. Nairn pointed out that the number of simultaneous heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere has multiplied six-fold since the 1980s, with no indication of a decline. He emphasized the significant impacts of heatwaves on human health and livelihoods.